Peripeteia
by Madhog thy Master
Summary: An adventure shall begin... And I shall tell you about it, oh loyal spectators.' Sequel of "Pater Familias". Watch out for random spin-offs of this story that will occasionally appear... You have been warned.
1. Overture

**Peripeteia: **In ancient Greek, it's a reversal of circumstances, a turning point or a twist. In modern Greek, Peripeteia means Adventure.

* * *

**"… _A change by which the action veers round to its opposite, subject always to our rule of probability or necessity."_**

**-Aristotle**

* * *

**PERIPETEIA**

* * *

Silence was the almighty ruler of the night. The unmistakable anti-noise of restrained breaths filled the air, the tension could be cut like the proverbial thick fog… Such was the anticipation, such was the curiosity of the present crowd. A peculiar atmosphere reigned in the rather modest ceiling-less theatre everyone seemed to be gathered in. A mysterious stage had appeared out of nowhere, immediately attracting all the simpleton villagers, who'd never experienced such magic before… The magic of theatre, the magic of acting and storytelling. When the time grew mature, this unique show's host appeared within a cloud of shining smoke, making the crowd gasp in amazement.

He looked like a clown, a jester, a card joker… A proud parody of everything life had to offer, a deeper observant could say. He wore a yellow / purple striped cloak that covered his whole body except for his head. Small was his size but great was his smile… The ever lasting smile of a theatrical mask, the kind that covered his face… The kind that had become his face. His persona was divided in two halves, a black one and white one. Like Good and Evil, like Light and Darkness, his facial features showed the eternal opposition between two forces, making absolute fun of them. A typical jester's hat with bells at its extremities, was placed on his head, confirming this individual's true colors and life style.

Once again, the place was filled with silence as nobody even dared to breath, too much surprised by this jester's appearance. Suddenly, the small clowny figure, raised his right gloved hand and snapped its fingers…

And colorful fireworks of the shape of small dragons began to enlighten the night sky, terrifying and marveling the casual spectators. When the show was at its peak, the jester did something even more bewildering… He rose in midair and, mocking every possible laws of physics, sucked in his small mouth all the fiery reptiles, like a giant vacuum in a cartoon show. After that, he descended once again to his stage and burped out a small egg that immediately hatched, revealing an entire storm of doves that hastily flew away from the jester. After a short moment of stupor induced muteness, the crowd began applauding and cheering like possessed at the tiny magician's tricks. He was pleased by that as he bowed down in front of his public in sign of appreciation.

"Thank you, thank you all… I'm pleased that your pleased. Your amusement is my own." He said with a strange, high-perched, almost echoing voice. As the cheers subsided, he commenced his speak: "Let me introduce myself… I am Dimentio, the charming magician. For centuries now, I've been traveling through all the dimensions, bringing genuine laughter to the people in need… Because Fun is a serious thing. If we all could laugh in front of the smirking face of our miseries, this whole universe would be a better place." He took a small pause to receive another round of applauses. "Wow, what a crowd! I'm more flattered than a praised, evil megalomaniac dictator after a successful world conquest!" Everyone laughed at that joke for not a particular reason. "Well then… Let's get this show on the road. Tell me… Do you all love stories? Adventurous, dramatic tales about dreaming worlds in peril, newborn heroes and diabolical villains?" A general yes followed the jester's question. "Marvelous! Because the story I'm about to share with all of you, lucky villagers, has everything of the aforementioned qualities… It is a story of friendship and doubt, of love and hatred, and, naturally, it shall be full of twists! Eeh eeh eeh eeh… And here's its players!" With another snap of his fingers, the pictures of several characters appeared around his form, instantly turning his magical theatre into a magical cinema. The unmistakable image of a vulpine looking boy was the first one. "This, my friends, is Miles Prower, better known as Tails… A young lad with an unfortunate past and an even more miserable present. For some reason, he's ended up in a world stranger to him… And what it's worst, he lost his memory. How tragically convenient! Or… Conveniently tragic? Whatever!" The second image showed the form of a younger boy with unique physical details, he had long fluffy ears and feline eyes. "Next one is Klonoa, a strange and mysterious kid that saved Tails's life after his rather distasteful fall into this world." Other images came after but they were all covered by giant question's points. "I'm afraid these characters are yet to be unlocked… But worry do not! They will be eventually revealed as the story proceeds." The floating icons disappeared within a third snap. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, freaks and so-called normal people… IT'S SHOWTIME!!!" And with that said, a bright light emerged from his body, engulfing all the present crowd, as Dimentio began the narration…


	2. Chapter 1

**1.**

Once upon a time, a non specified timeline, in a land, or perhaps someone's dream, far far away, but closer than you think, someone died for some reason at some point of his life. He has had a life full of fun and laughs, just like anyone should have, sadly though, for him the laughs were over, thanks to his killer, who, appropriately, laughed at his expenses. Now, ladies and gentlemen, you are probably thinking "Dimentio, who was this guy and why he was killed?" Or maybe "Dimentio, why the Author's stories must always have people who randomly die for no logical reason?" And I shall answer the first question immediately, oh loyal crowd… This person was a very special individual and for someone, he was a threat. As for his killer… Well, I'm afraid we'll have to do a step forward in time… Or maybe backward, since Time has the habit of being so illusive. Let's introduce our main character, shall we?

* * *

In the midst of pure nothingness, Miles "Tails" Prower was still falling… And screaming. The horrible and bone crashing weight of his actions were too much for his surprisingly weak physic and mind to handle. Can you see him? I want you to give a very good look at him, at this failure of a living being, this would be genocide, this delusional and pathetic individual, yelling his way towards infinite torment… How exquisite! Eternal loneliness could have been his more than justified condemn, for being so stupid to fall into that inter-dimensional pipe (but that's another story), if it wasn't for the rather curious fact that, he was not alone… Someone, or better, something, was there too. It was a creature of unknown shape and appearance, except for its glowing blood filled eyes, and its claws. It was heading towards the vulpine's terrified form with obviously bad intentions. Escape was impossible for the terrified fox as he witnessed the inevitable advance of the innominable beast, that was getting closer and closer… Until it could finally reach his body and with one of its almighty claws, slashed the fox's head, who could barely avoid a fatal blow. Blood spilled mercilessly from his head as the creature began to laugh his inexistent lungs out of its unshaped shape. It laughed and laughed and laughed… Until its obnoxious sound slowly vanished from the Kitsune's sensitive ears as he fell deeper and deeper again, slowly losing his consciousness, as well as his vital fluid. Luckily for him, clutched in the tight grasp of his hand, lay a certain item… A certain light blue emerald, who, as if animated by the vulpine's emotions, began to glow. Undeserving salvation was upon the accursed boy.

Did I manage to grip your attention spam? I hope so… Because this story thrills me every time I recall it. Who is the mysterious beast and what are its intentions with Tails? And what was wrong with that gem of his? Be patient, oh dear saliva dripping spectators, soon enough all the mysteries shall be uncovered like a top model in a calendar… Only to create whole new questions, like a disfiguring narrative cliffhanger…

Like this one!

…

….

…….

Naaaaah, I was just kidding. This chapter is far from being over. Let us change scenario.

* * *

Tails woke up in a soft and warm bed, his head hurt like a valley of lumps during a rain of hammers, his facial features were twisted by the sheer pain of his injury. He put a hand on his wounded head, only to find it finely bandaged. Despite his current mental status, the vulpine was still in possession of one of his primal qualities… Logic. He realized that someone was taking care of him for some reason he couldn't remember. Once his gaze exited from the inevitable dizziness of the awakening, he gave a look at his surroundings. The small wood hut he was stranded in, was modest but comfortable, it brought him a strange yet, refreshing sense of security, as if he had lived all of his life in such environment. Slowly, he descended the comfy softness of his bed and tried to walk… Only to miserably fall and hit the ground hardly. A charismatic series of unpronounceable words crossed his sour mouth while he tried to recover a proper standing position. With several efforts, he eventually did, but now the numbness was stronger than ever… He fell from the sky, after all. Unable to stand erect, Tails began walking with the same balance of a drunk man on a Saturday night. His dizzy form crashed to several items and mobiles the house possessed, before finally reaching the exit door. As he opened it, to his utter dismay, he found himself a little too high from the ground; apparently, he has ended up in a tree house. Pushed by unknown forces and very well known curses, he tried to descend from the giant tree the house was built on, which would have been an easy task if it wasn't for the simple fact that his obnoxious headache made him see not just one but three different ladders… That was quite annoying, to say the least. It didn't take too long for him to eventually put his foot on the wrong place and unceremoniously fall to the merciless ground… For the third time in just one chapter! Miraculously, this time things went pretty different from the usual, as he noticed the very curious situation was locked in… Not only he didn't crash on the soil, but to his justified bewilderment, he found himself… Suspended in midair. Once again, his rational part prevented him to panic, as he turned his head to look in the eyes of the one responsible for his lack of brand new fatal injuries.

There he was, blue tracksuit, Pac-Man hat and all, our co-protagonist, Klonoa, who was using his long, large and fluffy ears to fly like a white dragon dog from some bewildering fantasy book. His young feline eyes were showing, if possible, both preoccupation and cockiness, while his gloved hands were easily keeping the fox's body from falling , which was amazing since Tails was heavier than he used to be. This kid was definitely stronger than he looked, and he knew it. Their gazes remained locked to each other for a while, one in shock and gratitude, the other in genuine childish curiosity and sincere concernment, before the black furred boy delicately released his guest on the ground, then landed on his own, apparently un-tired. Our two heroes, or maybe anti-heroes, stood in front of each other for a while, as if inspecting and / or judging the other one's appearance or life style. During this short time of sacral contemplation, Tails could notice a couple of things about his obviously younger savior: his height was a few inches smaller than his own and the fact that he was wearing dresses managed to disturb him… Even though, he didn't know why. The awkward moment was abruptly broken by the strange kid's voice, who was childish but weirdly cocky as well.

"Ehmm… Hey, do ya like videogames?" Klonoa randomly said. Tails thought about it for a moment, then answered.

"Sure!" At this, the kid's face brightened like the namesake side of the moon… You know, the bright side.

"Do ya know Pac-Man?" He said, pointing at his own cool hat.

"Who doesn't know Pac-Man?" The vulpine's casual answer.

That was all Klonoa needed. With a grin that could have matched the one of a Tyrannosaurus-Rex, he grabbed his guest and brand new co-player's hand and flew over his hut at lightning speed, before Tails could even say: "Ehi, let's play Pac-Man together!"

So… The two heroes officially met, in a unique and thankfully un-corny way, and their adventure was just about to begin… Just as this chapter is about to end. But before that, let's take a quick look at another scenario… A darker and scarier one. In other words, the typical final boss's dungeon.

* * *

A pair of mysterious individuals, engulfed in the classical darkness of such environment, were discussing about the recent events.

"The two have met, sir."

"Excellent… The Author shall be pleased."

Cliffhanger!


	3. Chapter 2

**2.**

His eyes were filled with the purest among terrors as he powerlessly witnessed the unforgiving disembowelment of his own kidneys from his slashed open thigh. A cry of pain found itself locked in his sour throat as a red bloodfall dripped from his mouth, covering his whole soon-to-be dead corpse. His opponent laughed madly at his gory misfortune as he used the aforementioned shredded organs to strangle him… Until his head exploded in a preposterous amount of vital fluid that managed to fill the entire room. For that poor blue ghost, it was game over!

"Pac-Man wins… FATALITY!!!" The voice on the screen stated as the yellow murderer began to feed himself with the ripped rests of his adversary while "I'm Walking on Sunshine" played in the background.

Tails's eyes were as widened as a prostitute's… Mouth, while the grip he had on his controller slowly ceased to be such. His mouth was agape, his features were frozen, blah blah blah… You got the picture, folks! He slowly turned his head over his younger playmate, who by now was performing his own victory dance at the fox's expenses, singing the aforementioned song, which I won't name twice due to the sheer horror it always managed to bring to my fragile mind… Anyway, bottom line is: Klonoa won and Tails got pawned.

"You know… I remembered Pac-Man to be a little different." Tails sorely said to his overjoyed game partner, who just grinned at him in a very sly way.

"Don't make excuses, I beat ya, bud!" Klonoa declared, almost assuming a dramatic pose that somehow disturbed the fox. "Say, wanna play another game?" He added, eyes now filled with genuine childish eagerness… Having a playmate made him as happy as a sugar addicted on a confetti trip.

The older vulpine just shrugged and nodded in response. Ever so quickly, the black furred feline-like boy, took out of the console his prized copy of "Pac-Man Kombat: Ghost buster" and put in it, another classic of his seemingly infinite collection. It was a game Tails never heard of but that, strangely enough, reminded him of something he couldn't quite place in his damaged mind for the time being… "Super Duper Mario Bros."

"Jumping… Plumbers?" He inquired, his head already pulsing in the desperate attempt to understand why was he playing that… And why he hated plumbers so much.

"Yep… Awesome, isn't it?" Klonoa remarked.

"… If you say so." The other's unconvinced reply.

I think it's better now, oh my very patient spectators, if I shall take a moment of your precious time to explain a few holes of this seemingly improvised plot… Which is not! Well… Most of it.

After being attacked by that unnamed beast during his dimensional fall, Tails lost his memory, so he could remember neither who he was nor what he has done (which, dare I say, it's pretty convenient), therefore when he first saw his own image as a reflex on a mirror, he gasped in shock and stupor at his features, especially his twin tails, which, for reasons that went beyond my poor psychological skills, despite his lack of memory, he knew they were not "normal"… As far as normality goes, of course! I personally think that the so-called "normal" individuals are the real weirdoes… But that's just the opinion of a crazy jester, so you may want ignore my rant.

As for Tails and Klonoa, our two heroes had no problem whatsoever in bonding really fast… That is why they were pretty similar, in a certain way: they both were unique and utterly geeky at something… But you already know that, don't you? One could even come as far as to say that the two of them were somehow related, due to a slight resemblance between their facial features. Now, I think it would be swell of me if I reveal you exactly where did Tails end up… That is, if you believe dreams must have a precise location inside the universe, or a name.

This mystic land was known as "Phantomile" and, as local legends stated, it was born from the sweetest dreams of an entity that is considered responsible for the creation of most of the universes and their worlds. Such higher being has been named in so many ways by the whom who believed in him, but over the eons, only one name has outlived everyone's memory, the one name he was mostly referred with… "The Author". According to the myths, the Author is the one that created the first dimensions out of his bewildering dreams and gave them a defined shape and form with the power of his imagination. After that, he then created Life and Death… And, therefore, Chaos. And just like a writer who could not control what would pop out of his mind, he immediately lost control over his dreams, leading them to become their own worlds with their own people… And with their own dreams, which, due to the never ending cycle that time and space are, would create other worlds and other dreams as well. Confusing, isn't it? Well, if legends would have been as clear as the sun goes, they wouldn't have been so fascinating, eh? Just like any religion or creed, there exist several interpretations of the Author's role in the general scheme of things: Some of them, depicted him as a benign entity, always there to vigil and protect his prized children from themselves and their own actions… Others described him as a deceptive and sadistic God who tried to destroy the result of his own dreams, out of pure frustration (the frustration of an ignored father) and that he would occasionally exact his wrath on random unfortunate worlds that, for some reason or another, didn't please his divine eyes. That's where the stories of his feared servants come from… Legends about his most powerful agents, his right and left hands… Literally!

Master Hand, the right one, a cruel and calculative monster who enjoys other people's sorrow, and Crazy Hand, the left one, a loose cannon driven by wanton destruction and incontrollable rage towards everything that has ever lived. Little is known about these two godly appendages other than the atrocious path of Death and Destruction leaved behind their passage…

Thankfully, that is just a legend, isn't it? Eeh eeh eeh eeh, I can see by the look of your faces that my firm grasp over your attention spam is as tight as a minuscule Speedo… Goody then, because now that the back story has reached a rather sharp peak, I shall now interrupt it and resume the regular story… Now, where were we? Oh yes… Jumping plumbers of Doom!

"So… You used to live in this village named 'Breezegale', uh?" Tails asked while cursing under his breath to the stupid green plumber who just couldn't make that freaking jump.

"Mmm-hmm." Klonoa sort of answered, while beating his record for the umpteenth time.

"Then what happened?"

"My grandpa died and I was left alone, since I've never grew fond of the others, I decided to move on this isolated spot in the middle of our gorgeous forest… So I could live in peace." He replied while pretending to be entirely focused on the game but, as Tails could say, his seemingly innocent eyes were telling a different story… A sadder one. "Luckily, my unc comes often to see me, he is the one who gave me all these awesome games, he is the coolest person in the world!" His face suddenly brightened. At least he had an uncle who could take care of him… That managed to relief the fox about the kid's life status, which, as his instinct suggested him, wasn't the most cheerful. "Do you remember anything yet, Fox?" Klonoa abruptly asked to his interlocutor, catching him off guard.

"Fox… Is that the best nickname you could come out with? I get that I suffer of Amnesia but that's just lame!" Tails complained, Klonoa gave him a odd, almost offended, look.

"Ehi, I gave you the name of Fox McCloud, the vulpine hero of space from the game "Star Fox Wars", you should be honored!" He complained back, crossing his arms in a very childlike manner. The two-tailed namesake just sighed, he would have to live with that name for the time being…

"Nope. My mind is still as blank as a discounted piece of paper." Ehi, that's my line! Errr, I mean: said Fox in response of a previous question.

"And… What about that creature?" At this, he froze.

"T-the creature?"

"Yeah… The one you've been dreaming about, last night." The boy said with a tone so casual and unaware that sounded as scary as a Jehovah's convention.

Then, his guest fell on the floor, clutching his bandaged head in agonizing pain, and dramatically losing his senses within a loud thud. Klonoa freaked out.

* * *

He ran.

He ran with all his might.

The forest became an indefinable blur as he darted through its suffocating green, as quick as he could. He was rather fast on his feet, more than he was on his flying ears… Yet, he needed to be faster. He needed help. He needed some professional medical help. He needed the village's doctor. The deadweight of his burden was pressing on his small shoulders like a haunting devil on a quest for his soul… Ehi, that's a good one! Note to self: use this line more often. Anyway, as you may have already apprehended, young Klonoa was frantically heading to the Breezegale village in order to get a doctor for his foxy guest, who was lying unconscious of the kid's bed with a dangerously high fever… Therefore, the long eared boy had to run…

Run with all his might.

I now shall take this moment of impending tragedy to focus our thoughts on the sheer beauty of the natural paradise Phantomile used to be…

So peaceful and tranquil...

So calm and lively...

So smoky and burnt...

So suddenly deadly and full of cadavers...

So hellish and destroyed...

So perfect… Perfectly demised!

As Klonoa reached the once simple village of Breezegale, he was welcomed by a rather gory and dreadful scenario that awfully sang out of his land's tune. His face was simply priceless… In a bad way. The simple act of trying to describe his feelings and emotions to you, is simply impossible and ludicrous, for far than great was his shock and justified divine fear.

His feline eyes widened 3 times more than their original size as they witnessed the total and definitive annihilation of his hometown by the hands of a… giant floating white hand.

And there it was, ominous and unforgiving, laughing at its victims' death, while squashing them with its whole fist-like body… The Master Hand was having the time of its immortal life. After threading on the last villager alive with calculated sadism, the now blood filled fingers that were its arms turned to Klonoa's direction, who was still frozen on the spot, unable to utter a move (which was rather predictable due to the situation he was in), and a hair-raising diabolical laughter came out of those very appendages. The godly hand laughed hardly and loudly, pure maliciousness could be caught in such ear-drumming sound. Slowly but menacingly, the Author's right hand flew towards the young cat/dog/rabbit-like kid, who found himself disappearing into its huge shadow.

A shadow had engulfed him… And another one, came to his aid.

Before either Master Hand of Klonoa could notice, a fistful of golden beams hit the not anymore laughing handheld divinity, who quickly backed away from his would have been next victim, until it eventually chose to disappear into a convenient inter-dimensional portal that vanished right after it crossed it. Awareness shot into the kid's brain with the sheer force of a bum-bum bullet, letting him realizing what just happened, letting him understand the situation he has gotten in, with unforgiving terror. His head slowly turned to his back, letting his eyes fix on the image of his last minute savior, letting him to immediately recognize his unmistakable shape.

He stood proud and cool, totally unfazed by the hostile scenario, with a strange glowing azure gem held in his gloved hand, his peculiar eyes stared at it with hinted glee shown on them.

"A Chaos Emerald… It's been a while since the last time I held one in my grasp. How refreshing." He whispered with his cold voice as a louder one managed to interrupt his contemplation.

"Uncle Shadow!!!" Yelled the now tearful kit as he gazed at the black furred, red striped and smiling form of his "uncle", right before darting towards him and crying his trauma right on his white muzzling chest.

A new playable character has been unlocked: Shadow the Hedgehog has joined our company!

* * *

**A/N: Read "Peripeteia: Tintinnabulae"**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Read "Peripeteia: Tintinnabulae" before this.**

* * *

**3.**

Let's take it from here.

He was falling again, deeper and deeper in the never ending abyss of his twisted subconscious… Yes, he was dreaming. Dreaming of that dreaded moment in which he's been mercilessly faced with the un-burden-able burden of his memories, right before losing them for good by the hands of that unshaped creature who attacked him for no apparent reason. He would occasionally scream and yell, clutch his head in despair and pull his own ears in the attempt to rip them off, such was the sufferance his soul was enduring, such was the tragedy of his disastrous existence, such was the pain blah blah blah blah… Gee, this is sooooo depressing, if I don't put some color into this perpetual grey, someone here could very well start cutting his wrists… I must intervene! Let's see, Tails was wearing a red nose and doing some acrobatic number with a bunch of vanilla pies.

"No… Freaking… Way!"

Okay, okay, how about… Strawberry pies!?

"….."

Fine. It's your dream after all, Tails. So, where were we? Oh yes… The falling and the yelling and the agony, etc.

The beast was back, its form was as unclear as ever, its sharp claws greedily craved for the vulpine's blood, for his memories, for everything that made him, him. Once again, his azure eyes grew larger, driven by a fear that went beyond any common or known psychological issue… An irrational fear, a divine fear, the casual observer (which is you) could tell. As the monster came closer to its chosen prey, its foggy form began to assume a more defined shape until it eventually acquired the resemblance of someone Tails immediately recognized…

"You!?" His unsure voice could only mutter as his frightened gaze fixed itself over the familiar shape of his young Samaritan…

Klonoa grinned evilly, his eyes were drowned in pure hellish red. He spoke with a low and grave voice.

"I know what you've done, I could see it in your own dreams… YOU MURDERER!"

"N-no… You don't understand… I needed to do it! They deserved it… THEY ALL DESERVED IT!" Yelled the trialed vulpine in response, only to be met with his interlocutor's unforgiving gaze… And his unbearable silence.

It hurt him like a million knives impaled right into his chest, this sudden knowledge, the sudden memory of his previous life... All those lifeless faces, all those judging eyes, all those bodies. His own personal collection, his trophies… And then, her innocent eyes upon his guilty form, and her mother's scream, their escape and his mourning… Everything was so painful.

How tormenting, our mind can be, eh? As cruel and sadistic as the judge of a talent show… Or even more, if possible. Memories come and go like tornados, only to assault you when your guard is down. Such was Miles "Tails" Prower's case as he relived all of his forgotten nightmares through the red glowing eyes of his young, merciless executioner… And the funniest part about this whole ordeal, is that he wouldn't remember a single thing once he would wake up from his slumber… How entertaining! Eeh eeh eeh eeh… Come on, laugh with me! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! Cough… Anyway, let us continue.

* * *

A slight sensation of awareness crossed his still numb body as his mind found itself to be in between the dream and waking world, between a state of deep sleep and simple tiredness. Despite the numbness of the pre-waking status his whole body was engulfed in, he could still notice the unmistakable presence of two foreign individuals surrounding his bed, although his barely opened eyes could only figure one's silhouette and his enhanced ears could register the other one's peculiar voice…

"Ehi, he's got two tails! That's the weirdest thing I've ever seen… They look cool, can I have a second tail too, eh boss? CanIcanIcanIcanIcanI? Pretty please?" An atrociously obnoxious and high perched voice declared with a little too much enthusiasm, for the fox's tastes. He could tell, by the contorted form of the shadow, that this voice's acquaintance was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and, quite frankly, it was not to be blamed. "Say… Whaddya think that dark-o-hog mate want from this foxy fella?" The voice asked, only causing a distasteful shrugging of its interlocutor's shoulders. "I mean… Does he have a golden fur or something?" At this, the impatient silhouette's pose dramatically changed, as if driven by some immaterial and greedy force and, without thinking, tore a small sample of fur from the fox's body, causing not only his immediate awakening but an ear shuttering yell of pain that could have been heard in all of the Infinite and beyond… Sorry for the lame reference. "Nope. I guess that's just normal fur, boss." Said the now easily recognizable form of a helicopter tailed, golden lemur-like monkey to his now almost deaf, orange haired, pirate-like partner, who discovered it to be simple fur, in the hard way.

Once subsided the evident pain (and the bewilderment of his harassers' uncommon appearances), Tails found himself to be… Rather infuriated. As a matter of fact, his pupils disappeared, his whole face grew 10 times from its original size and his open jaw was showing sharp teeth, as clouds of smoke came out of his ears… Such was his rage. A single, giant sweat drop appeared on the heads of the now utterly terrified and unwelcome guests. The buccaneer looking guy downed his gaze to stare at the incriminating piece of fur in his hand, then he looked back at the irate vulpine and stupidly smiled as he tried a rather fruitless and dumb attempt to reattach the torn sample to the fox's freshly new bald zone… It just fell on the ground, like his scarce hopes of survival.

"Errrrrrrr… IMUSTBESOMEWHEREELSESEEYOULATER!!!" The frightened flying monkey yelled in one breath, before darting away from the window at impressive speed.

"Oh no you don't!" Replied the wrath blinded Kitsune as he was already on his way to strangle the small human with his twin tails… For some reason, he had a profound disdain over men and everything that slightly resembled them, primates included.

Without missing a beat (or a boiling point), Tails too darted to the window, with the agitated pirate still in his tight grasp.

* * *

As the floating chimp decided to slow down his fast air pace, already deluding himself into believe he was safe from the vulpine's more than justified fury… His very fragile securities dramatically shut down when he sorely noticed that he has being actually followed. There he was, eyes filled with wrathful retribution, grinding teeth asking for divine justice… And an unlucky, screaming pirate boy hanging for his dear life to a leg… All in all, the now flying vulpine looked more pissed off than ever.

"Whoa! Ye can fly too? Awesome!" The monkey's casual comment managed to reach the vulpine's mind, who immediately regained his normal self.

"What?" Tails asked… Right before crashing to a tall tree at high speed along with his unwilling passenger.

"Ouch… That gotta hurt." Stated the obvious, the unaware primate.

Both the fox and the human stood in their precarious spot for a few seconds, before being grabbed by the merciless gravity and unceremoniously smashed to the ground, disappearing within the unspecified abyss of their own personalized craters. For the second time in one day, Tails was out cold.

* * *

He woke up later, in a very dark and unappealing room, naturally his head hurt like sharp nails stuck in his brain. As what little of his mind could recall, this hadn't been exactly his lucky day. With an expression frowned like an avalanche, Tails cast his eyes over the now furless zone from before… It was still furless. He just sighed, took a deep breath, then sighed again, longer and louder. He eventually decided to descend from the supposed bed (?) he found himself onto, by now his eyes had already got used to the darkness of the place. After some valuable efforts, he found the door and opened it… Then he got utterly blinded by the outside's arificial light. He snarled his distress out of his lungs as he desperately tried to recover his precious viewing sight; as soon as he did, his smart mind realized something important: he was not in the tree house, anymore. He was surrounded by metallic walls, with several pipes here and there, and portholes from which the ocean could be seen. Where did he end up?

Suddenly, a sound caught his attention, a musical theme of some kind, and judging by its incomprehensible lyrics, it seemed very ancient. Moved by a sheer curiosity that could have been able to shove mountains aside, the two-tailed fox began walking towards the source of this music. There was something hypnotic in that song, something both amusing and bemusing… As if it was foretelling the end of the world and been joyful about it. The more the Kitsune's feet went closer to it, the more they became hard and heavy, in the boy's mind. Left, right, straight, right, left, and he finally reached his destination: a rather huge metallic door, the kind of portal you could find in a submarine of some kind. With no little hesitation, he opened it and within a loud screech, Tails could clearly see the bewildering source of the music, as he was now, face to face… With me!

Taa-daa!

I smile at him, which was not much of a big deal since my face has a smile printed on it, and he stared at me in contemplating awe, like the main guest of a bachelor party.

"Hya!" I greeted him, while turning off "O Fortuna" by pulling one of my hat's bells. "I don't think we've been properly introduced… I am Dimentio, dedicated jester and passionate magician, nice to meetcha!" I said while bowing myself in front of my guest. "And you are…" The fox thought about it for some time, then eventually answered.

"I'm Fox." He sorely replied.

"I can see that." I added, not hiding a certain amount of hysterical giggles. Needless to say, he didn't like the joke, but guess what… I am a joker! After the chuckles subsided, I cast my glance over Fox's form, my cleft-like eyes shined in amusement. "Shadow, my friend, how swell of you to join us."

At this, the now confused two-tailed furry cushion slowly turned his head to his back, only to be met with a couple of intimidating crimson eyes attached to a black pinhead-like head (eeh, pinhead-like head, I've got to remember this one), fixed to the fox's own, with suspicious interest, I could tell. After a few seconds of this staring contest, during which I played several patience games with my cards, they decided to interrupt the awkward silence.

"Do I know you?"

"Not that I remember."

I'll let you guess who said what.

Within the blink of an eye, I appeared right in between the foxy boy and the shaded one, causing one to freak out and the other to roll his eyes in annoyance… Again, guess who did what… Then I showed my cards to the yellow-orange fluffy factory.

"Choose one… Let's see if you're lucky!" I eagerly said.

Despite some genuine mistrust issues, he eventually did as he was told and picked up a card… To his utter bewilderment, his own image was drawn on it.

"You took the fox! That makes you a smart individual with a forgotten past for which he has no memory of… Am I correct?" I enquired. Needless to say, he was impressed… To put it euphemistically.

"Just… Who are you?" He asked me with a trembling voice. At this, my smile went even broader, if possible, as I answered his question.

"I… Am your humble servant." And thus, I created even more questions.

New playable character: Dimentio has joined our company. Yay for me!


	5. Chapter 4

**4.**

Eeh eeh eeh, if you only could see your own blank expressions… Absolutely priceless. Yes indeed, I'm a part of my own tale. I suppose I owe you some explanations, don't I? Well, too bad! You'll receive none and you know why? Because I'm the one who narrates and you're the ones who listen… If you don't agree with this simple fact, you can always stand up and leave… But we already know you're not going to do it, right? Just as I thought… You are inevitably trapped into the sucking vortex of this story's plot, along with all your unanswered questions and fancy theories about what could or could not happen as the tale follows its course… Your doubts and curiosity are like alcohol for my own amusement; for such is the perfect relationship between a storyteller and his crowd. From now on, things are going to be even more interesting…

His blue gaze wouldn't stop staring at the beautiful azure gem that vividly resembled his own eyes' color; it looked so pure and inviting in the vulpine's mind, even though he couldn't quite understand the reason… Then again, it was not like he could understand too many things in his current condition. All he could do was to fix his own orbits and pupils on the prized item tightly held in his hand, as if hypnotically drawn by its mystery… And power.

"So… This is a Chaos Emerald, uh?" He suddenly asked to somebody, not even bothering to move his head from the statue-like position his whole body had assumed over the minutes.

"It is. I sensed its presence while I was coming to Breezegale… I have reason to believe that it arrived here with you." The slightly colder and older voice stated from behind the fox. At that bald affirmation, Tails slowly turned; a blank expression shown on his face.

"I… Am not of this world?" He said, still trying to convince himself over that seemingly undeniable fact.

"And so am I... At least, that's what that jester said. He is the expert of space / time travels, not me." Shadow said while crossing his arms in deep thought. "Although the only things I can remember about my past are the Chaos Emeralds and the influence they could have on certain people..." His ruby eyes were now fixed on the vulpine's. "… Gifted people." An almost imperceptive smirk could be registered on the hedgehog's lips. Tails gave another good look at the emerald, then at him again.

"What about Klonoa? Are you really his relative?" The ever so thoughtful fox asked almost casually. Shadow did not have any problems in answering the seemingly hot topic.

"He is… A very special kid. When I first met him, he was all alone. His grandfather was already dead and he was often teased because of his obvious diversity…" While the hedgehog spoke, the Kitsune gave a look at the two sources of his own diversity and sighed. If anyone could understand what was like being "abnormal", as the so-called normal ones would put it, it was him… Even though he didn't have any clear remembrance of his past life. Shadow continued. "… Not to mention, his unique ability."

At the mention of the unique ability, the boy's attention immediately returned to his interlocutor as he proceeded with his speech. "He could travel into other people's dreams." The fox's mouth was agape… Probably because of the astounding convenience of this plot device, or maybe because it genuinely surprised him, which, for this story's benefit, will be considered the official cause.

Now there was a perfectly illogical explanation of how that kid could actually know about that disfiguring beast that used to visit him while being asleep… Which could have very well been a memory either than a dream, he supposed while touching the bandages still wrapped around his painful head wound. Needless to say, his curiosity towards the Pac-Maniac preteen has grown considerably.

"What is he, exactly?" He suddenly asked. Shadow thought about for a few instances and then answered.

"He might be a cabbit… A hybrid between a cat and a rabbit. In other words, he is pretty much unique, just like you and me…" He paused a short few seconds before adding: "… And the rest of this ship's crew, for that matter." Tails made a face.

"A cabbit… You just made that up, didn't you?" He enquired; a rather sour expression was visible on his facial features… He only received a dismissing shrug in response.

Suddenly, the room's metal door opened, revealing a pair of sadly familiar forms that Tails immediately and sorely recognized.

"YOU! THE BLOODY PIRATE AND THE HELI-MATE!" How clever… Because the latter was a primate with a helicopter-like tail.

As soon as he yelled that, the fox practically launched himself towards the troubling duo, like a feral carnivore on chubby slow kids, only to be blocked by none other than Shadow, not without some little effort.

"Calm down, they were working for me! They are my responsibility!" He yelled of his own in the now calmer teen.

"Then you owe me a new patch of fur, buddy!" Tails venomously added while giving a threatening stare at the two fiends.

A very frightened Zack hid behind the ever flying form of his "portable treasure and sidekick" Wiki, who stood there with a dumbly cute face, completely unaware of the risked danger… As always. Then he made one of his already famous guesses.

"Ehi mistaa, is yer name Tails?" The golden chimp suddenly asked to his would be aggressor, who happened to be quite surprised by the monkey's question.

"Nope… His name's Fox!" Another voice, slightly more juvenile of the fox's one, answered for him, startling both the reasonably nervous pirate boy and the now calm twin-tailed canine.

"Awww… That was my second guess." Complained Wiki right before turning and finding himself face to face with a new friend and fellow adventurer.

Klonoa seemed to be as carefree and childishly happy as ever… A well portrayed façade, indeed.

"Hi Uncle Shad, hi Fox… Slept well?" He casually greeted right after escaping the boredom of his reality through the small size of a handheld gaming system he was keeping in his pockets… Another gift of his beloved "uncle".

"COOOOOL!!! Can I give it a try? CanIcanIcanIcanIcanI?" The obnoxious heli-mate obnoxiously insisted. Klonoa just ignored him, such was his concentration. The phrase: "I envy you" was written on Zack's face as he observed, with hinted admiration, how the cabbit could easily ignore the floating pest. Tails (who will be called "Fox" from now on) just rolled his eyes for no apparent reason and Shadow simply stood in his sitting spot in meditation…

It was my time to appear!

And thus, I did… Right in front of Fox, which, naturally, made him jump six feet in the air like an unaware cartoon-like coyote taken by surprise. Within the general stupor, Fox found himself once again floating in midair thanks to his propelled namesakes.

"Do NOT do that AGAIN!!" His startled but firm voice managed to say.

"As you wish…" I calmly replied while reminding myself to do it more often… You can never trust the word of a jester, especially not on jokes.

"WOW!!! Ye can fly too!" Wiki yelled.

"We've already established that, remember?" The vulpine who could fly, reminded the chimp.

"… What's an established?" He asked, causing Fox's urge to kill to rise again… Well, he was a monkey alright.

* * *

**A while later.**

The room was filled with the most unique crowd any respectable showman could ever hope for… Naturally, it pleased me.

Fox sat on a rather small chair, his tails wrapped around his waist as if mirroring his own crossed arms; impatience could be easily detected in his eyes. The dark porcupine…

"Hedgehog!"

Oh sorry… The dark hedgehog appropriately known as Shadow was immobile like a Yoga practicer.

The small sized, orange haired buccaneer by the name of Zack was eating a chocolate bar he took out of nowhere; his face was as distant as the one of a bored student during a summer's school day. Klonoa's full attention was on his prized handheld device from which a concerto of bleeping sounds came out of… Wiki stood beside him, in gawking and, more importantly, silent admiration.

As for me, I was standing in front of them all, waiting for my muse to guide my words.

"Eeh… This awkward situation kind of reminds of that time when I had to entertain a bunch of deformed kids in a pediatric hospital or stuff… I ended up accidentally burning the entire structure and killing everybody. Those were good times!" I abruptly stated, earning almost everyone's attention… Just as planned. "Good evening to everybody. I guess you already had the undeniable pleasure of knowing each other?" I asked them with a purposely joking tone, earning distasteful noises from the others, specifically, from the Fox and Zack's part. "As you all know by now, my name is Dimentio… And as my name conveniently suggests, I can travel through dimensions within the single snap of my fingers. I saw lands and civilities from any timeline and space… I saw gorgeous utopias, turning into hellish dystopias within seconds… Then I travelled through time, only to see them as gorgeous as before. I saw the future and the past of many worlds and, of course, I couldn't clearly tell where the present would fit into this mess… As far as Time has any meaning whatsoever. Bottom line, folks, my perception of time and space is a little more complicated then yours… You may think you're living in the present, or at least this dimension's present, but from a different point of view, all of this could have already happened or could be yet to happen… Is that clear?" I paused a second to glance at my public's overly widened eyeballs. "… Guess not. You people look as confused as a frank 'n' further drag queen on a pole dance!" A general "what" followed my clever statement. I sighed. "Let's put it this way… I come from the future and I need your help to save the universe!" I declared with an emphatic tone; a general "oh right" came as follow…

Well, in truth, everyone had a different reaction over the tremendous simplicity and unoriginality of my speech. At least three of them didn't pay attention at all and one looked completely unfazed… Tough crowd, indeed. Only the amnesiac fox managed to give me the satisfaction I was aiming at, within his retorting remarks.

"This sounds like a lame plot device for some crappy videogame…" He stated with hinted disdain, already asking himself where in the world that comparison came from. My half-moon like smile grew larger. Interactive crowds are the best thing any respectable showman could ever hope for… Therefore, it pleased me.

"Aaaah, but that's the beautiful thing about games, my friend… They don't necessary need some fancy plot in order to be fun. Am I correct, my young geeky friend?" I asked to Klonoa.

"Yup… Like in "The Legend of Xena: Warrior Princess!" He replied, not even bothering to distract himself from the seemingly hypnotic and noisy gaming device in his very busy hands.

"See?" I said to the mistrusting holder of the twin-tail-force. The profound un-pleasance depicted in the vulpine's eyes testified his rational part's urge to yell that this was neither a game nor a dream but Reality… His uncertain and wise part, however, told him otherwise and, therefore, he kept his mouth shut. I was pleased by that, as I blinked my right eye towards you, and resumed my previous speech. "Have you ever heard of a little thing called…" I took a deep breath for the sole purpose of creating more suspense. "… The Dark Prognosticus?" At this, almost everyone shook their heads in baffling bafflement… Eeh, baffling bafflement… I love that line!

"It's a legendary ancient book that used to predict the end of all existence by the hands of the one who created it, in the first place... That's right Klonoa, I'm talking about one of THOSE hands... The one that destroyed your village!" Aaah yes… The boy's reaction was immediate and priceless: first, his body froze, then his game fell to the ground in slow motion, and finally, his young, frightened eyes fixed themselves on my eternally smiling and mocking features, in delightful fear. "The Author's hands!" I concluded and then, silence overcame.

As you should understand by now, details are a fundamental device in any self respected narration… When I told you the Chaos forsaken back story of the Author and his related myths, I wasn't just wasting precious breath… But I guess that all of you already knew that, right? Of course you did! What you don't know, however, is that at the time I conveniently forgot to tell you about the most famous among legends… The legend of how the Author got defeated! Surprised? Fascinated? Yes… I can easily read it on your baffled faces full of baffling bafflement… Among baffling bafflement (eeh eeh eeh, love it…): "Dimentio, how can The God be defeated?" He can't… Unless you find a proper way to lock him away in some dimensional prison where escaping is impossible! That's what the illumined race who managed to beat him, did. They used their powerful magic to seal him and his servants for good; they were a peculiar race of sages for which the simple concept of Time and Space was absolutely meaningless, because they could travel through them like a monster truck on small roadkills… That's right, oh loyal spectators, they were MY people! And sadly, I am the last one alive, after both the Author's hands somehow managed to escape their prison and kill everybody, except me… How convenient! Ironically enough, my race's extinction was predicted by the Dark Prognosticus itself as the first step of the destruction that would end it all… That is why, before permanently disappearing from existence along with all their relative timelines, my people used their powers to create a direct answer to the foreboding doom of the black book: The Light Prognosticus!

"… And all of you have a mention in it as the only ones that could stop the apocalypse!" I said, finishing the telling of my not so credible back story. "Any questions?" The golden monkey raised his hand.

"Uhm… I have a question, Mr. jester-mate!"

"Yes?"

"What's a book?" At this, everyone's gazes locked themselves on the hely-mate; baffling bafflement was shown on them. "What?" Wiki innocently asked.

"Any other question?" I asked again. This time Zack raised his hand. "Yes, Zack… There will be plenty of treasures to find." I immediately answered, causing him to perform a rather (guess what) baffling dance on the spot, adding a well executed pirouette and raising his arm in sign of victory at the end. His shiny smile almost blinded me. At this point, Shadow raised his hand.

"Dimentio, if that's your real name of course, how exactly are the 7 Chaos Emeralds going to save our rear end from certain doom?" A very clever question, that deserved another long and tedious back story.

For what little I managed to apprehend during my multiple trips, it was a Chaos Emerald that managed to free both the Master Hand and the Crazy Hand from their imprisonment… Just as the Dark Prognosticus foretold.

It has also been said that all 7 emeralds would have caused the liberation of the Author himself and that such task would have been accomplished by a cursed race that shouldn't even exist… I'll let you do your math, for now.

"… So, if we can retrieve those gems before the Author's servants…"

"We would have a slight chance of saving the universe!" I completed.

"… A slight chance."

"Yup!"

"But how do they scattered all over the dimensions?" Shadow further asked.

I gave a very quick but amused look at the amnesiac form of a certain oblivious two-tailed vulpine, which managed to send shivers through his spine, then I just shrugged in fake ignorance. The annoying primate known as Wiki raised his appendage that mildly resembled an arm, once again.

"What is it, my prized pesky friend?"

"What's an emerald?" You couldn't blame the little guy for being such a fool, after all, he's been locked inside a chest for Chaos knew how many years. Luckily, Shadow came in everyone's aid.

"This is an emerald." He said, showing him his light blue one.

"Uuuuuuuh, shiny! Ehi mister dark-o-hog, do you know I can turn into a bell and that my sound can attract any form of precious thing?" The unaware as hell monkey lightly stated, causing his so-called "boss" to choke himself with his own chocolate bar… It was quite the show, I must say. Shadow sighed…

"Yes I knew that… And now everyone else knows that too." He said while putting his hand on his forehead as if he had a migraine.

"Is that a bad thing?" The bellmate innocently asked while miraculously avoiding a very irate Zack's fists of fury. A general chuckle followed the rather comical scene. After the laughter subsided, one last person was left to raise his arm.

"Tell me, Fox." I calmly acknowledged.

"Do you have any proof to backup your words?" Dead seriousness shown in his features… Here's a clever boy.

"Here…" I casually answered while throwing at him a rather small white book I magically picked from behind my back. He caught the surprisingly heavy volume and gave it an odd look.

"What's this?"

"The Light Prognosticus." I stated; baffling amusement and all. He made a face. "What? Were you expecting something else?" He gave a profound look at the manuscript in his hands, as if somehow entranced by it.

"Can I keep it?" He demanded rather than ask. I slowly nodded and everyone was happy with that. "One more question…" He said while hiding the book in one of his surprisingly fitting, fluffy tail.

"Be my guest."

"How can we possibly trust someone who wears a mask?" Venomous maliciousness engulfed the almost threatening tone of the fox by the name of Fox… I was starting to think he didn't like me.

"A mask? Oh my clever foxy friend, you are wrong… This is not a mask." I stated while putting my hand on my "masked" face. "… This is my face!" I abruptly ripped my own facial vessel off my head, revealing a bloody skull beneath it. "… See?" The torn face held in my hand added. That… Managed to freak out most of my public, even the ebony, strong stomached Shadow. As a matter of fact, the only one who didn't dumped his figurative pants out of pure fear, was that little baffling monkey, who was still smiling like a whole circus tent of dummies… His obliviousness was any jester's nightmare, indeed! I calmly reattached my face on my skull as if nothing happened, then my re-found gaze eyed the now completely baffled crowd that stood in front of me; hinted satisfaction crossed my inexistent lips. "Let's get serious now…" I said, out of pure hypocrisy. "… Help me find all the emeralds and I shall grant your most bewildering wishes! I could offer you treasures beyond imagination…" I looked at Zack, who's grin was as broad as a casting… Get it? A broadcasting! "I could gift you with unlimited powers and knowledge…" My eyes fell on Shadow's form, which flinched in interest. "… Or permanently remove them." Klonoa, who's been silent for most of the time, found himself interested too. "And I could also restore lost memories!" And finally, Fox's gaze was on me, hinted pleading eyes and all. "Yes… I can do a lot of things, with the proper triggers, of course… In this case, the emeralds!" I paused one last time before concluding: "Do we have an agreement?" Everyone nodded quite enthusiastically, despite all the genuine doubts and mistrust. "Marvelous! Oh and by the way, Wiki?" The hely-mate gave me a questioning look. "Your nose is a rhinarium. Monkeys don't have rhinariums… Therefore, you're not a monkey." At this statement, Wiki's face frowned faster than a waterfall, such was his shock. Once again, victory was mine! "Okay, enough with this pointless chitchatting… Let this adventure begin, ciao!" And with that said, I snapped my fingers and everyone else on the ship vanished into apparent nothingness. "Aaaah, I can finally relax." I pulled one of my hat bells and "O Fortuna" began to play.

… I can't help but think that I forgot something… Oh yes!

New playable characters: Zack and Wiki have joined our company!

Eeh… I can't always remember all the details, can I? Speaking of which, have you noticed how many times did I say the words baffled, baffling or bafflement in this chapter? No? Well, that's too bad… You aren't going to win a new car! Eeh eeh eeh… Okay, let's cut to the chase.

And so, our fearless heroes' quest for the 7 Chaos Emeralds had officially begun… And just like any self-respected adventure, all of them had a precise role to attend; a role based on their personal abilities and personalities: the young and determined lad who is yet to uncover his true destiny; the experienced and mysterious warrior; the tormented soul with a cursed past; the comic relief characters who will have their moment of glory… And, of course, the inevitable traitor… Guess who.

Cliffhanger!


	6. Chapter 5

**5.**

Dimensional travels, as I personally experienced, can be quite brain busting like a fancy wrestling move… Especially when your head is already busted.

As Fox awoke in the apparent midst of some nowhere grassy land, his wound pulsed harder than a tractor wheel's pump; he clutched his painful skull in the desperate effort to beat down the agony, which only provided to reinforce it. Almost on the verge of fainting, his blurry vision could catch the figure of his chosen companion… Klonoa sat on the grass, not so distant from where his suffering form lay, his gaze was fixed over nothing in particular in the typical "deep thinking" manner. The Kitsune tried to speak but found out he couldn't, such was the torment; he had to wait until the pain subsided.

"You know… Videogames are awesome." Klonoa's voice suddenly (and randomly) stated to a surprised vulpine. "… They can bring you into other worlds full of crazy characters with unsuspecting deep sides, adventures beyond physical limitations and just sheer funny entertainment…" He continued, without even turning to look his interlocutor in the eyes.

"… They are the only things that keep me from goin' nuts!" At this, the fox's curiosity took over.

"What do you mean?" He asked, ignoring the pain, with a more than intended trembling voice. The cabbit slowly turned his head towards the vulpine, revealing watery eyes and a disturbingly sour expression.

"You had that dream again… The one with the monster and the falling… And apparently, you have no memory of it…" His head lowered down as if his beret was made of heavy steel, a single tear coming down his cheek. "… But I remember it, all too well." He practically muttered, almost incoherently. Fox's eyes were widened… Not in shock but something near it. "It happens every time I sleep or even when I lost my focus… And I can't help it. That's why I always play games… They keep me busy." Tears were now pouring from his feline eyes like small droplets of a dying waterfall. "But I can't take it anymore, I really can't…" He didn't even have the time to end his latest misspelled sentence, as his older playmate's arms wrapped themselves around his shaking figure, in a tight embrace. Klonoa silently cried his eyes out on his friend's shoulder who was there for him.

What a tragedy… Escaping reality in order to escape dreams… As far as there was a real difference between the two seemingly opposite concepts, that is. None the less, it was a very touching moment: an inconsolable lad who desperately needed a guide… Perhaps, an older brother. One would have to be a sadistic cold hearted bastard for interrupting such tearful moment… Suddenly, my redundant voice interrupted the tearful moment.

"And by the powers of all the sudden touching moments' killing jokes, I now declare you… Two-tailed freak and cat-rabbity thing! You may kiss the bride." Needless to say, that managed not only to ruin their character developing sequence but also to irate them… Specifically, the "don't call me freak" foxy lad.

Klonoa, on the other hand, found the joke rather amusing and as a positive result of it, his tears have stopped… Once again, I've brought joy were it was needed.

Seeing his companion's relief, Fox eventually decided to forgive my rather scornful rudeness and just rolled his eyes. Suddenly, and by that I mean "WTF", a black and white box appeared right in the hands of the vulpine, who had to struggle in order to maintain his coolness. The box had a crank on its left side and the phrase "play me" written on it.

"Whaddya waiting for!?" The excited, regular-self, cabbit boy yelled almost in the fox's hyper sensible ear, which had to flinch in disturbance.

"Fine…" He irritably said, before starting rotating the box's handle… A fast paced, toy piano-like version of "O Fortuna" played as he did so, until the predictable jack in the box popped out of it right in front of the unfazed form of the fox… He saw me ripping my face from my skull, therefore a simple jack couldn't possibly scare him, right? Or so he thought.

My lookalike puppet slowly opened its mouth and began talking.

"Greetings, fellow adventurers… Time for your mission's briefing. Yay for mission's briefings!" It said, a little too enthusiastically, in Fox's eyes… Which, naturally, rolled. Klonoa was over excited instead, he seemed to like my antics… A smart kid, indeed. "There are two Chaos Emeralds in this world. Retrieve them and I'll automatically send you to the next dimension… Oh wait, that sounded wrong! I mean I'll send you to ANOTHER dimension for your next objective… Any questions?"

"Yeah, I've got some questions." The Kitsune said in a "you don't fool me" kind of tone.

"Shoot."

"If you know where the emeralds are, why don't YOU go and grab them, instead of letting us doing all your biddings?"

"Aaaah, a reasonable question… You see, from my perspective, all of this has already happened and I'd prefer to leave it that way… I suggest you to consult the Light Prognosticus for further info."

"Okay… (lazy bastard), second question: where the heck are we?"

"I guess you could call it… A possible future." The puppet's voice sounded more sinister.

"What do you mean?" The teen's voice sounded more doubtful than before. At this, the jack's lipless mouth seemed to grin in a genuinely diabolical and twisted way.

"You'll see… But as for now, I wish you Fortuna!" Then its tone became more robotic. "End of transmission - This handsome looking jack will automatically explode in 3, 2, 1…"

Motioned by almighty forces that went beyond the common boundaries of Life and Death, Fox immediately launched the innocent looking death device, as far away as he could… Only to watch it detonate in a colorful firework that resembled my beautiful, smirking face. Obviously, the foxy cushion found himself fuming like a tropical volcano… He was livid, indeed. Klonoa, who watched the entire scene in silence, was instead quite hysterical.

"Ehe… That dude is even cooler than my unc… He is as cool as that spiky haired mercenary with the giant sword…"

"I loath him." The very disdainful vulpine abruptly stated.

"Who? The jester or the cool mercenary with the giant sword?"

"THE CHAOSDAMNED JESTER!!!" He yelled a little bit more than intended, startling the hybrid kid, who's giant fluffy ears instinctively covered his face in fear. The fox by the name of Fox realized his mistake and immediately apologized.

"Sorry… It's just that… I can't trust a jester. Jesters are mischievous and backstabbing… They always lie, they only want to trick you and… Why do I know so much about jesters?"

"Because your daughter is one herself." Klonoa muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing... You know, I was thinking… Fox does not suit you well for a nickname." He said, almost casually… Almost! The amnesiac vulpine nodded in definitive agreement… "… I think Tails would be better!" … Only to frown miserably.

"Oh yeah, how clever… I got more than one tail so I should be named Tail(s)." He mocked in an exaggeratedly sarcastic tone. "In truth, I'd prefer to remember my real name." He added.

"Trust me… You wouldn't, Miles."

"What was that again?"

"Nothing… Just gas."

"… Ooooooookay. I think we should move now… Mister 'I know everything' has forgotten to tell us where exactly to look for the emeralds." He sorely stated.

"Mmmh… I have a hunch that we'll know it soon enough."

"What makes you think that?"

Klonoa motioned his arm towards the very peculiar figure of a weird, big yellow bird who mildly resembled a chicken, except for its parrot-like beak… That was holding a very interesting green item. The parroken (or chickot, if you will) and the two fellow adventurers exchanged gazes for a few, silent moments… Before the now frightened birdo darted away at lightning speed.

"GET IT!!!" Cried the agitated Kitsune to his partner… And thus, the hunting season began!

* * *

Melting lava pits weren't exactly his thing… As a matter of fact, they happened to be his worst nightmare, right after his current obnoxious companion.

"Ehi boss, do ya think I could bath in that hot spring?" A certain floating bellmate stupidly asked, causing his pirate buddy to devilishly smile for a second… Before eventually thinking better of it. "Ehi look over there: a treasure chest!" Zack immediately did as he was told and his cunning gaze fell upon said huge container… Which was held tightly by the claw of a giant, horned, nasty dragon that came out of the lava pit… "Let's get it, boss!" Wiki yelled in his usual dumb manner; an "I hate Mondays" kind of expression was printed on Zack's sore face as the aforementioned reptile began spitting fireballs at him.

Way to start an adventure, eh?

* * *

A barren wasteland consumed by war and death lay upon the ebony hedgehog's blood red eyes as he glacially witnessed, from the relative security of the high rock formation he stood on, the ominous battle between different races raging on in the horizon… In this seemingly medieval world, the only rule that mattered was to kill or to be killed… The survival of the strongest race or the utter destruction of every one. This was how this world of warcraft functioned… As that peculiar exploding jack in the box told him during his mission's briefing. The Chaos Emerald was somewhere in the midst of that battlefield, he could feel; but he clearly couldn't just go there, ask everybody to interrupt the war for a minute so he could recuperate the gem and leave them to their precious slaughtering… Eeh, imagine it! He needed some help to get through that corpses' factory… And, I'll be stricken by a thunder as I narrate, he was just abut to receive it. He slowly turned his pinheaded head to look at his guest…

He, or it, was right behind him… He had a metallic mask that covered his entire small and round body, like the midget parody of a knight; a purple and, somehow, lively cloak spread from behind his back… Ominously golden eyes could be seen from the cleft of his mask, giving him a very sinister appearance that completely mocked and reversed the fundamental ludicrousness of his midget size. Shadow the Hedgehog cocked an eyebrow in slight interest as he gazed this weird fellow even better. Suddenly, the knightly goofball spoke, revealing a tone deeper than anyone would ever expect to hear from a gnome.

"Sir Shadow… I am the Meta-Knight and I'm here to serve you." He said while bowing in respect towards his chosen master.

* * *

The catching part was the easiest, since the weird bird couldn't fly, the difficult part however, was to actually convince it to stop running like a blasted roadrunner in the Arizona desert! And there they were, our beloved heroes… Un-heroically hanging for dear life on a crazy, seemingly unstoppable yellow chickot (or parroken) with a Chaos Emerald locked in its beak.

"Weeeeeee! This is better than 'Mario Cart'!"

"Aaaaaarrgh! Stop the roller coaster, I wanna go home!"

Guess who cried what.

As if on cue, someone's voice yelled an order in the distance and the roadrunner abruptly froze on the spot, along with its two undesired passengers… The Latin names of their respective species appeared under them for some random reason. Once both the dizzy forms of Klonoa and Tails unceremoniously fell to the ground, they were greeted by their savior, who happened to be the bird's owner.

"Oh I'm so sorry… Did my Chocobo caused you any troubles?" A gentle older female voice asked in genuine concern.

"Urgh… No, we're fine, thanks for helping, ma'am." The Kitsune said right before raising his gaze to look at their guest's features… And to his utter bewilderment, he was immediately recognized.

"Tails? I-is that really you?" Her face was the portrait of Chaos forsaken shock; the fox's expression, on the other hand, was just as blank as the one of an amnesiac… Oh wait, he was! Klonoa's face was a whole program too as he cursed under his breath.

"Who are you?" Tails finally managed to ask after subsiding the initial stupor… And the now 26 years old rabbit girl didn't hesitate to answer.

"It's me, Cream… Cream the Rabbit!" No bell of knowledge rang in the tragically damaged and still bandaged head of the two-tailed vulpine as his blue eyes fixed themselves into her big brown, pleading ones.

In the meantime, a very sour Klonoa exchanged gazes with the carefree looking Chocobo, basically envying its precious unawareness… Because, after seeing his dream, Klonoa knew exactly who Miles "Tails" Prower was.

And he feared him.


	7. Chapter 6

**6.**

I guess it's time for some useful back story, isn't it?

First of all, I'd like to clarify a certain detail about the time / space structure of each dimension, in order to provide myself some convenient plot device for future twists… We've already established the world Tails and Klonoa has ended in, is one of the possible futures of the vulpine's own home dimension and it was born as a direct result of a certain single action made by a certain single someone, somewhere in that timeline. In other words, it's the purest manifestation of the endless possibilities of Chaos as we all know and love; but despite how this future has been created, it has become its own world with its own chaotic rules and, therefore, its own integrity can't be questioned by changing some past event within some disfiguring time paradox… Is everything clear? Yes? No? Uff… You're a tough crowd, indeed. Let's put it this way: Let's hypothesize that for some reason I'd go on a rampage over some random dimension and kill everyone… That dimension's future would be as sadly tragic as the 3000th episode of a universally known soap opera; but what could possibly happen if I would try to return in the past and stop myself before I could kill everybody? Would that particular future change? Absolutely not… A whole another future would be created instead! That is what little I managed to comprehend during all my travels, folks. Time and Space are truly made of Chaos and the way they act is something we can't really come even close to understand… There are some fancy theories though, but I'll leave those for some other uncalled for spin-off episode. As for now, let's get back to the promised back story, shall we?

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away… Oh wait, wrong starting, sorry:)

Space… The last frontier… Oh snap! I got it wrong again:(

It was a dark and thunderous night… That's better;) Too bad it was full daylight when the great conflict between Mobius and the Forsaken Children Alliance officially began! I can see by your baffled-as-ever priceless faces that something might had managed to escape your reasonably short attention span, am I right? To put things simple (which they never truly are and therefore they always are), according to this dimension's history, Mobius was suffering a tremendous intestine war; a war that has occurred due to a very pitiful and despicable excuse… Racism. It happened a few years earlier, when a fast growing group of both Mobian and human hybrids demanded the more than justified acknowledgement of their rights, causing the bigots to enrage and the violence to explode. The immediate result of this collective course of action brought to the birth of the F.C.A., an army composed exclusively by the so-called half-blooded hybrids, or freaks, for short. Needless to say, the humans didn't waste the chance to get somehow involved in this conflict for "helping the fellow Mobians to vanquish those terrorist scumbags", as they quoted, while secretly planning an aftermath takeover of Mobius itself. Amazingly enough, the F.C.A. group managed to resist the effortless efforts of both the "regular" Mobian army and G.U.N. combined, basically thanks to their "hit and run" strategies, the fact that their HQ was well hidden and, naturally, the intelligence of their proud conducer… A mysterious half-human, half-Mobian cat boy who's origins can be found in an old, forgotten (and rotten) city dump in the middle of a desert… Does that detail bring you back some unpleasant memories, oh people who enjoyed the previous story's events? If that so, then you should have already imagined what has been the trigger that pulled this dimension out of the pure voidness of inexistence. Anyway, that's pretty much it for the back story; let us resume the current main plot.

* * *

**… _And thus, the Darkness shalt be vanquished by the whom that shalt hold the power of Light._**

That was the very corny line that ended the 470 pages experience of the legendary book known as the Light Prognosticus. As the two-tailed vulpine formerly known as Tails, renamed as Fox and then re-baptized as Tails, closed the white and heavy book in his hands, only one thought crossed his mind…

"What a bunch of Donkey butted crap! Why ancient, mystical books of infinite wisdom always have to be so darn lame!? It almost seems as the writer has had some corny self-discovery journey in some Chaosdamned desert only to be met with the almighty God of douchebags who told him to write a shitty book with snail's excrement as ink! I'd prefer eat the rotten asshole of a putrefied roadkill and drown it with beer, instead of reading this pathetic excuse of a presumed bible again! I'd prefer having a buffalo taking a diarrhea dump into my ear! I'd prefer…" Yes, quite the thought, indeed.

In the short seconds that followed his pissed off, let's say, book review, Tails found himself wondering just how in the multi-verse did he manage to know all those colorful terms and original poetic expressions… The answer to that question came in the soave tone of a fine, bunny lady's voice.

"I see that Knuckles's influence is still pretty vivid in you. Ehe… I guess there is an angry pissed off-able echidna inside every one of us… And I'll be Chaosdamned if that's not true!" Said the nice looking, young adult form of Cream the Rabbit as she entered the room her foxy guest has been placed into, with her reassuring housewife attire. The aforementioned vulpine turned his three-banged head towards his supposed-to-be-younger-but-older-instead host; a spark of genuine childish curiosity could be noticed in his bright blue eyes.

"Was this Knuckles guy really that colorful?" He asked, only to receive a sweet smile in exchange, along with the answer.

"Yes… You could say that." And he, somehow, smiled her back… A smirk full of gratitude.

By now, the kind rabbit had already managed to fill Tails with everything she knew about him, which wasn't that much but still better than nothing.

Miles "Tails" Prower was the greatest hero Mobius has ever seen. His actions have become the main source of interest for thousands of books, movies and even, believe it or not, videogames! Among his seemingly infinite acts of selfless heroism, there also was the rescue of Cream herself from the hands of a certain improvised rapist who had a major role in the back story development of the last saga… But let's leave it for another random forth wall breaking-like reference. According to the rabbit's words, Tails and his other two companions' doing is considered the main reason behind the feared Eggman Empire's fall… Oh, and he also made a family with a plant girl, right before vanishing into thin air for the last 12 long years, along with all of his "relatives". Naturally, all that rather unbelievable information managed to send some itchy, freaky chimp-like shivers of dreadful bafflement towards the back of his easily baffling, amnesiac head… Okay, maybe this last analogy was just a little too much; let's just say he freaked out and leave it at that, alrighty? Goody! So, even though he now happened to be in possession of some significant info about his supposed heroic past, his mind was still as oblivious as a persistent "Minesweeper" player before the inevitable mistake that would lead him to the suffering game over… Yes, I know you know.

Back to the future!

Tails sat on the comfortable bed his guest had so kindly offered him; she was a very attractive girl, the male vulpine could tell, with her brown eyes and tan skin, her sweet muzzle, her cute wad of hair she inherited from her mother and not even her obviously advanced pregnancy made her appear less gorgeous… TA-DAA! Surprise, surprise!

Tails's eyes fixed themselves over her huge time-ticking bomb-like belly; his enhanced ears could almost feel it… The ticking!

"So…" He began. "Who's the father, if I may ask?" Her smile became even sweeter as she told him to wait a second, then left the room.

While waiting for his very gentle host to return, he decided to give a look to the outside world through this well hidden hut's window. The ancient green and magnificence of the secular old Mystic Forest was still there, pure and intact, even though he could not remember it, which frustrated him greatly. His attention was immediately caught by the blurry form of his dimensional companion, the troubled cabbit kid known as Klonoa, and his latest playmate… None other than that crazy Chocobo bird that almost got the both of them killed. Apparently, the Chocobo was supposed to be some kind of a wondrous evolutionary hybrid of several kind of birds… A living, breathing Chaos spreader, how appropriate. It seemed to get along pretty well with Klonoa, which considered his rather evident diversity, made him the perfect companion for such strange winged creature. Tails couldn't help but smile within himself, as he realized he wasn't exactly normal either… but then again, what's normal and what's not? That's a question only you can answer, and your own answer will always be different from someone else's. The green Chaos Emerald that caused so much troubles to retrieve, was now secured in the relative safe-like errrrr… Security of one of his double tails, along with the ancient book of almighty douchebags, placed in the other. The vicinity with that gem's power, caused the vulpine to shake in intoxicating pleasure, which highly disturbed him yet, made him wanting to have more of it. He had no time to rest, there was still one emerald hidden somewhere in this dimension and he, they needed to find it as quick as possible... And then, there was his lost family. While his mind was busy wandering through the latest series of tribulations, Cream came back in the room with a small picture in her hand.

"Here. That's him." She said right before passing the photography to her supposed-to-be-older-but-younger-instead guest. "He is a hero, Tails, just like you… He's my love." She said dreamily.

"He is… Human?" Her interlocutor said with hidden disgust.

"His parents were both human and Mobian."

"So… He's a hybrid?"

"We prefer the term, F.C. as Forsaken Child." She corrected. He just nodded, not without evident bafflement. "And he's not just any F.C.… He is the leader of the FCA army itself!" Tails's slack-jawed face reached the ground as he gave one last glance at the very unlikely soon to be father on the picture.

He looked like a fine and honest young lad (for humanoid standards, that is), with blue eyes, sandy blond hair and an eccentric warrior-like green tunic as a dressing outfit. A fancy sword was held in one of his hands and a metallic shield was in the other; he posed like some kind of a chosen hero and the like. It further baffled him that Cream had basically give up her freedom and the chance to live a non-fugitive kind of life, for this seemingly corny individual.

"What's his name?" The Miles once known as Fox asked… Errr, I mean the Tails that was once a fox… Urgh! The fox that could run several Miles Per hour. Oh for the love of chocolate filled hot springs… Miles "Tails" Prower, the Mobian two-tailed fox, or Kitsune if you will, asked to Cream, who was a pregnant 26 years old rabbit girl with a taste over Life's rejected heroes… Yes, that will do.

"He is simply known as… Link. It has a symbolic meaning if you think about it." Said the tan Cream that once covered a rabbit… Oh snap, I give up! She continued. "And to think that if it wasn't for that blue jackal that saved his life, we wouldn't even get to meet." At this last statement, something in the vulpine's mind clicked, or better, abruptly snapped.

It was a memory, a painful remembrance, a slight clue over something he could or couldn't have witnessed, experienced, lived through someone else's form… The sheer weight of such burdening mental pandemonium started to crush his cranium with the same violence of a train plus airplane plus transatlantic ship wreckage. He clutched his head in pain, ruining the freshly done bandage work Cream took the disturb to apply on his ever so pulsing wound. Seeing the pain he was in, the kind bunny lady rushed towards him, hoping to somehow help him with his current distress, but she was stopped by her very guest's urging voice.

"T-the name…"

"What?"

"W-what was the blue J-jackal's name!?" He practically yelled, trying to cover the infernal noises from his mind. Within a trembling and shocking tone, came the girl's unmistakable answer.

"Link told me he called himself…" She took a long breath for the sake of narrative suspense, then finally spat out the name every one of you have seen coming for at least half a page: "… Lucario." And thus, Tails fainted… Again.

* * *

They say that a change is good as a rest… In this case, the change of scenario came within a rest, or better, a fall into the darkness of unconsciousness. Tails "awoke" himself into yet another one of his wacky dreams, but this was not just any easily forgettable dream, my friends, this was the kind known for being impossible to ignore and / or forget… Yes, that kind of dream. Once he managed to restrain his precarious physical and mental balance, the vulpine gave a decent glance over his surroundings, or should I say lack of surroundings, only to find himself mysteriously attracted by a convenient light source in the middle of his imaginary world, or should I say lack of imaginary world. The Light stood like a stage reflector, as if waiting for someone to step inside and perform an improvised recital based on his own life; it was kind of ominous, especially if you had a disfiguring phobia over theatrical stages… For the sake of your patience, Tails didn't have such inconvenient fear and stepped inside of it almost immediately. As soon as he did that, the blinding light engulfed his form, letting him escape the darkness of his usual dreams… And the unknown beast that would usually persecute him for some reason.

The Kitsune found himself in a grassy field very similar to the one he'd seen in the Mystic Forest when he was awaken… If you can call it that way, of course. In front of him, lay trees, flowers, random overly cute animals and… A very familiar big chickot (or parroken, if you will) he happened to know, the Chocobo. It stared at him with its usual dumb expression as if expecting something to happen; Tails just rolled his eyes and moved closer to the bird with the obvious intention of petting him.

"I don't like being petted. Stop right there, boy." It spoke with its weird beak, causing its would be caresser to jump in surprise.

"Y-you talk?" He asked, still frantic by this discovery. The Chocobo nodded.

"This is your dream, so I can do things that I couldn't do in reality… Although the precise difference between reality and dream isn't something so obvious as the rational people would want us to believe... At least, that's my opinion, which could be wrong since I'm just a talking parroken..." Or chickot! "… Or chickot, if you will. Anyway, I'm here to give you some rather useful advice that should manage you to advance in this Chaos forsaken plot… That's my current role." The amazingly talkative birdo stated. Needless to say, Tails was more confused than a sci-fi nerd in an anime convention.

"… What are you?" He asked.

"Perhaps, you should rephrase it and ask me 'who are you', I'm not an object nor a mindless beast… Or at least, not yet… Or maybe it's the other way around. I don't know… I guess I'll just have to… Improvise!"

Ladies and gentlemen, guys and dolls, children of any ages, here's to you, live and reloaded, our special guest star… You know him, you love him, you can't live without him… FANG THE SNIPER!!! In the body of a Chocobo…

"What the hell was that!?" The bewildered teen asked to his wise interlocutor.

"That was just my presentation, boy. You see, in my previous life I used to be a mercenary by the name of Fang the Sniper, until I died and became a ghostly guide for a while… Then I ended up reincarnated in this winged creature which couldn't even fly. And now I'm about to tell you where to find the other Chaos Emerald… No, do not ask me how I know this or that thing, I just happen to… Which is highly convenient and all. Now listen very carefully to what I have to say…" It took a moment of pause to see if it had the required attention from its wide eyed guest, then it continued. "… You may find it under a big old tree in the northwest borders of the woods, you can't miss it."

"That's it? That easy?" If he could he would have hugged the straight answering bird-like thingy. It nodded and then turned to leave… Only to re-turn its head over its interlocutor in a dramatic (and probably improvised) manner.

"Be warned, young one… For no reason whatsoever you must let your friend, Klonoa, to be anywhere near the rabbit girl… Take it as a friendly suggestion." Fang the Chocobo said.

"And why not?" A third, sadly familiar voice, asked.

Within perched ears and almost primal instincts, Miles abruptly turned to see none other than the young cabbit-like object of Fang's words right behind him, smiling innocently.

"I kinda of napped too… Sorry." Klonoa said, scratching the back of his head in the classical embarrassed way.

Before any of the two could say anything, the dream was over.

* * *

The return to the so-called real world was more unpleasant then normal, since the fox accidentally headbutted the skull of the unwilling visitor of his latest subconscious outburst. Klonoa yelped in pain as the brutal awakening reached his brain too.

"Ouch… That hurt!" He complained while clutching his forehead.

"Oh shut up and get moving!" Yelled his older friend while massaging his head too.

"Are we going to get the emerald that Chocobo dude told us about?" He enquired.

"No… We're going to do a cosplay number at videogame convention." Tails replied with evident sarcasm in his voice.

"Really?" Not so evident sarcasm, apparently.

"NO! Now move!" And thus, within a quick hello to their kind pregnant bunny guest and an odd glance at the now creepy Chocobo bird, they left the small hidden hut at lighting speed… Only to come back immediately after for further indications, before leaving again.

* * *

**A while later.**

"Well, it was easier than I thought." Stated the two-tailed vulpine while holding a red Chaos Emerald in his right hand and the green one in the other.

"Yep… Just like defeating that first mutated farmer in 'Redneck Evil 4'." His younger companion randomly stated as well.

"I have no idea of what you're talking about, you know that?"

"Yep… Say, what do we do now?"

"I don't know, I guess we'll just have to wait that screwed up jester to retrieve us or something… Maybe he'll come with some ludicrous pie launching puppet monster or some other of his idiotic tricks."

"Yeah, that'd be cool!" At Klonoa's last statement, Tails just rolled his eyes in fake annoyance.

Then… Something rather disturbing caught his attention. His eyes widened as a terrible realization stroke his mind with the same brutality of a well handled war hammer. Without turning his glued-like gaze from the scene that grasped his attention, he motioned his younger friend to look at what he was already looking; and thus, Klonoa did, only to be met with the very preoccupying vision of a huge, black cloud of smoke coming out in the distance… Right from the direction Cream's house used to be. Caught by sudden panic, the cabbit kid immediately tried to dart over her hut, only to unpleasantly slip out of consciousness within a sharp blow on the back of his head.

Tails gave a good and distasteful look at the result of his protective instincts… He already hated himself for what he'd done to the child; hitting him from behind with a karate chop was a vile act but necessary none the less. He couldn't allow him to blindly run over the danger, he didn't want the kid to witness what Tails feared he would have witnessed and he somehow knew he couldn't have been capable to simply convince him not to go there… They were similar, after all. After muttering some sincere apologies under his breath, the Kitsune left the knocked out form of the half-rabbit, half-cat kid and dashed towards the supposed impending tragedy.

* * *

Everything was burning. In just a matter of seconds, nothing of the once modest wood hut would have remained intact. The horror of such image managed to recover some hidden memories from the deep abysses of the vulpine's mind… Terrifying remembrances imprinted in his body and soul like disfiguring scars. For him, it was like a déjà-vu, because even though he could not remember it, that was the exact same way of how he lost his parents… More or less. The whole scene was like an erupting volcano melting his brain: it burned deeply. Without wasting anymore precious seconds, Tails snapped abruptly from his trance and recklessly crashed his way inside the burning hut through a glassy window, which obviously cut some minor portion of his skin, but in truth it really didn't matter to him. After a few seconds of frantic researching and dangerous smoke inhaling, he managed to find the object of his latest heroic outburst… Cream lay unconscious on her bed, her beloved one's picture clutched in her hands. Not without a lot of efforts, he raised the heavy lady from her would be death bed, in bridal style and came out of that flaming Inferno as quick as possible.

Once out, Tails delicately placed Cream on the grass and, despite the evident tiredness depicted on his features, tried all the possible reanimation techniques he knew in order to awake her… He eventually succeeded as she restrained her self-awareness through a series of loud coughs.

"Cream! Are you alright!?" He frantically asked, and even though she already knew what the real answer to that question would have been, she slowly nodded instead. "What happened?" He asked again, calmer this time.

"T-the people that were after my husband… Found us." No other words where needed from the weak lady, as the situation was tragically clear inside the vulpine's mind as mixed emotions of rage and despair began building inside his own being… Just like they did before. Then, the cries began.

"What's wrong!? WHAT'S WRONG, TELL ME!!!" He cried as well in open desperation.

"M-my baby… It's time." She said as her huge belly trembled like an earthquake. "Please… Tails… Save my child." She cried with all the strength she had left. "It's my final wish…" Then she fall into sleep…

Into eternal sleep.

Her last thought was on her beloved husband and the family life they never had the chance to live. Tails stared for a few minutes at the dead girl's body, which seemed so peaceful and quiet in its final rest… A yell of pain and agony exploded in his mind as he silently watched her anti-climatic peace, then a realization stroke: she might be gone, but there was still hope for her baby. The fox's gaze grew determined; he knew what he had to do to save the unfortunate child… Without feeling the pain, he ripped a sharp piece of glass from his bleeding skin, took a long breath and, finally, cut the woman's belly.

Baby cries could be heard through all the Mystic Ruins' forest as a reassuring cue over the fact that the improvised Caesarean section has been a success. Despite all the blood and the tears, all the suffering and the overall trauma, the thing that shocked Tails the most wasn't the birth itself, but the very little skinny thing he was holding in his arms, trying to protect it from the environment's dangers. The baby was clearly a male, he could tell, and by the looks of his long bunny-like ears and peculiar feline eyes, he was clearly a hybrid… A cat / rabbit hybrid…

A cabbit.

And so, Tails finally realized the truth behind Fang's words… The reason of why it told him not to let Klonoa to get anywhere near Cream… Because, if it would have happened otherwise, the poor kid would have been there to witness… His own mother's death.

Tears began their inevitable descent from the fox boy's eyes as he held the infant version of Klonoa tighly in his arms, as if in fear to lose him forever. Once again, oh loyal spectators, Chaos has been the last one to laugh as yet another disfiguring time paradox brought us into the current situation… You may cry, if you want.

"Enough crying." I said to the desperate vulpine after appearing beside him.

"You knew it, didn't you?" He quietly asked me, through blind folding tears.

"Yes… And it couldn't be changed. Now give me the child, please." I said, in a serious tone for once, only to have him tighten his grip on the infant even more, like a protective wild beast with its own baby. "Tails… He will not survive much longer if you won't let me bring him to Phantomile, where he's bound to grow and, one day, meet you." He wasn't convinced by my words full of wisdom, if I'd say myself.

"What about his father?" He rightfully asked.

"He died in battle a few months ago… That is why his unofficial wife has to live here alone. The war is lost and this dimension is doomed… Now, for the love of circus' stunts went horribly wrong, will you please give me that unlucky infant or would you prefer to see him die right in front of you? It's not like the actual Klonoa would disappear into nothingness but I don't think you would like to have a dead child on your already heavy conscience, or am I wrong?" Understanding the utter gravity of the situation, he eventually decided, not without some tearful difficult, to pass me the small bundle of sufferance.

As I rocked him back and forth in my gentle arms, earning an envious gaze from the fox's part, I quietly snapped my fingers, instantly curing his injuries within my powerful magic.

"There. Now you're cured… And you can keep the emeralds you've collected, for now." I stated.

"Oh am I honored or what?" He sarcastically remarked while undoing his head's bandages, which he felt he didn't need anymore. A disfiguring scar could now be seen under his left ear.

"Wanna know why I haven't used my magic to heal you before?" I asked.

"You forgot?"

"… That'll do as an explanation. Now you should go before the kid you so unceremoniously knocked out could find a way to travel into your dreams again… You don't want him to uncover the truth of his birth, do you?" I casually questioned and he couldn't agree more, even though he still hated me beyond reason… I wonder why? Eeh eeh eeh…

As I snapped my fingers again, a ludicrous clowny demon appeared out of nowhere and began launching pies at the now screaming vulpine, until his form disappeared into a huge pile of delicatessen… Yes, that's how he travelled this time. I smiled within myself as I silently thanked my beloved vulpine friend for the precious suggestion he involuntarily gave me earlier… Yay for pie launching monsters! Then I left this cursed dimension and his cursed inhabitants along with the now asleep form of baby Klonoa… He would have later been found by an old cat man on his house's steps, in the small village of Breezegale.

Oh, and by the way, no one heard anything about a certain talking Chocobo again… Not in that timeline at least.

That's it, folks. Let's change scenario.

* * *

Tails found himself in the middle of a frozen wasteland he couldn't help but, somehow, recognize... Because he had already been there, through a certain blue jackal's eyes.

* * *

**A/N: Read "Peripeteia: Hourglasses"**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Read "Peripeteia: Hourglasses" before this.**

* * *

**7.**

Fire… Symbol of Life, Prosperity and Hope; a necessary instrument of progress and self-protection… Except when it burns you to ashes. As the spitfire lava dragon mercilessly released its unforgiving flames on Zack's flesh and bones made, soon-to-be-carbonized corpse, one last thought crossed his amazingly peaceful mind, a hope for being more accurate, the hope of ending up in a chocolate filled heaven… Or so that was he would have thought if the reptile's victim would have been him and not his seemingly perfect replica cleverly made with exsiccated mud. While the unaware serpent from hell was busy burning down a puppet, the Real Zack (as far as that word had any meaning) cleverly hid behind a conveniently placed, giant old stone pillar, mumbling incoherent curses just like any stereotypical pirate would do. His self-proclaimed, not so stereotypical, golden sidekick was right beside him, chanting incoherent buccaneer songs, completely unaware of the impending danger… Nothing new under Antilles' sun, mates. Suddenly, as he always do, Wiki the bellmate (or heli-mate, if you will), shot yet another one of his random and surprisingly useful, quotes.

"Ehi boss, did ye know I can also conveniently turn small and medium sized living things into items? Cool, eh?" He said with his usual dumb smile.

A whole series of emotions crossed the young, orange haired, pirate during the apparently infinite seconds that followed Wiki's statement:

1) Annoyingness;

2) Loathness;

3) Blind rabid rage complete with dripping dog-like saliva;

4) And finally, Realization.

As a rather menacing huge centipede was randomly centi-walking (eeh, centi-walking, that's a good one) towards Zack's direction, his opportunistic first reaction was to grab his bothering chimp assistant, who immediately turned into his infamous bell form, and then to immediately start ringing it with the same mad determination of a junky fireman during a firestorm. The relentless ringing managed to do the lamely labeled impossible and transform the innocent giant invertebrate into a... Centi-saw? Okay, that's too ridiculous even for me… On second thought, no it's not. Unfortunately, the bellmate's unmerciful ringing reached the lava serpent's attention, which, by now, found itself reasonably mad for having been fooled so easily. Animated with unearthly (or should I say, un-multiversally) quickness, Zack started sawing the old pillar he hid himself behind, with the aforementioned centi-saw… Gee, it still sounds ludicrous. Before the reptile could do anything to prevent his seemingly unavoidable fate, the stony column fell right on its head, driving the creature into its final demise.

"GREAT JOB, BOSS!!!" Wiki yelled in over enthusiastic joy while his "brave captain" began pirouetting on the spot in sign of victory. "Say… What about the treasure?" … Only to dramatically freeze in the typical anime fashion as the monkey stated the obvious.

Caught in his own momentum, Zack forgot everything about the impossible-to-miss treasure chest held in the tight grasp of the dragon's claw, therefore it inevitably fell into the lava pit along side the reptile's cadaver… So, apparently, the mission was failed. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway because I can XD), our brave buccaneer's mood fell more down then a vile coyote in a cliff; he now looked like the empty, ghostly shell of his former self, with classical depressed, little phantom fires floating right above his head to exclaim his current status. "Aww… C'mon boss, ye know what they say: another day, another treasure!" Before Zack could strangle the indelicate monkey, something rather peculiar manage to catch his attention… Or better, someone.

You should know by now that every time I say that sentence something bad happens, therefore I won't point that out… Yes, I know I just did it and it was intentional but apparently you didn't get the joke… Oh whatever, let us proceed.

By now, both Zack and Wiki's enormous and frightened gazes were fixed on the peculiar, threatening, but most of all, floating, person that stood right above the blazing lava inferno. He looked like a pirate… A pirate who managed to escape from the fiery depths of Hell, so to speak. He wore the typical captain's outfit and a peg leg, but that's where the "reassuring" elements of his appearance ended; his facial skin was of a dead pale blue, his eyes were alien green, fully golden teeth were shown in his huge and diabolical grin and, ultimately, his long red hair and beard were made of flames… He was the pirate version of Satan, alright. To Zack's utter dismay, the thought-lost-forever treasure chest was now in that floating devil's hand. The unnamed demon opened his mouth and spoke with his redundant voice.

"I am Barbaros… The greatest pirate of all times!" And thus, he was unnamed no more. "Thanks for retrieving MY treasure, young lad!" He said, before starting to laugh for no apparent reason… Not that a villain would need any reason to do so.

That statement made Zack's blood boil like water in a cauldron as his skin suddenly turned red in sheer anger. His chimp companion, on the other hand, for the first time since his awakening from that cave, looked seriously concerned and on the verge of panic.

"How did you escape, Barbaros? I thought I got rid of you forever!" Wiki boldly stated, startling his companion a little. That only managed to amuse the demon pirate even more.

"Even your obnoxious ringing was no match for one of these gems!" He said while showing them a glowing, purple emerald.

"That's a Chaos Emerald! How did you get it!?" The now surprisingly wise monkey asked, surprising his boss even more. Barbaros's grin grew broader.

"As if I'm going to tell you… Now prepare yourself, because I going to exact my non specific revenge over the universe and turn everybody into convenient items with your unwilling help… Just like old times!" He spat his entire evil scheme with the typical non-chalànce of the best villains.

"That's the reason of why I betrayed you and sealed you in that cave along with myself for all these eons…" And I'd like to thank Wiki for filling us with the necessary background details. "No prob, mate." Don't talk to me… By the way, Zack found himself to be engulfed in a genuine aura of (get ready for this) baffling bafflement! Yay for made up lines!

"Yes, well… I have a hunch this time things are going to be quite different, my dear bellmate!" Barbaros menacingly stated while opening the golden chest in his grasp, pulling out of it none other then the blue Chaos Emerald. "I've found this little precious during one of my multiple travels… Or better, it was given to me by a strange looking knight… A midget version of a knight, for being more accurate. He told me that this jewel was a gift from the Author himself… And the sheer power it possessed was an undeniable proof of it!" As he said that, his greenish eyes were shining like crazy as they greedily gazed the blue jewel in his ghostly hand, perfectly depicting his obvious lack of sanity… Which, in the case of power thirsted demons, was usually a bad thing. He continued with his self-inflated speech. "I was entrusted by the Creator of it all with this immense power… And now, I have two of them!" He said while gazing the purple gem in his other hand. "… And soon enough, I'll get ALL of them and rule everything! WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" And thus, he concluded with a good old fashioned maniacal laugh… It's been a while since the last one, eh? As soon as his "I'm the chosen one" speech ended, the two Chaos Emeralds in his grasp began floating around him in a circular movement, like they always do, providing their current owner with a rather preoccupying golden aura that made him look even more threatening.

Instead of running for their lives just like any reasonable person would do, Zack and Wiki stood their tall, determination fiercely shown in their features, as they awaited their opponent's first move. Needless to say, this was going to be a desperate fight… But people, never fear, 'cause Dimentio's here. It's time for your typical, overused, last minute rescue's moment!

"Let's try this new power, shall we?" Barbaros evilly muttered before yelling a certain line that some of you will immediately recognize. "CHAOS SPEAR!!!" And so, said energy beam was shot from his hand towards the seemingly defenseless monkey / would be pirate duo… Only to be stopped by a sudden barrier entirely made of wind. "WHAT!!?" Yelled the now baffled, seemingly unbeatable demon.

As the shield faded away, the unmistakable shape of its summoner could be clearly seen in the bemused eyes of the hellish buccaneer from the Hades… Particularly, the long fluffy ears and the impossible-not-to-recognize Pac-Man hat.

"How dare you interrupt my wrathful power demonstration, Pac-Manic brat!?" The outraged devil pirate questioned in a tone of utter outrageousness. The cabbit kid just smirked in the typical videogame hero's manner and replied as such.

"I'm Klonoa, master of the winds and Dream Traveler…" He took a moment of pause for the sake of cheap suspense, then added: "AND YOU'RE GOING DOWN!!!" He yelled while pointing at his enemy in a rather emphatic fashion.

Awkward silence fell on the scene with the same force of a tornado as a giant sweat drop appeared onto everyone else's forehead. As soon as Klonoa noticed the others' baffled reaction, he decided to exit his hero's stance, out of pure embarrassment.

"I thought it was cool…" He practically muttered in the feeble attempt of justifying himself. While Zack and Wiki began practicing in a "roll the eyes in annoyance" contest, Barbaros, on the other hand, found himself more enraged then ever.

"FOOL!!! YOU ARE NO MATCH FOR ME!!!" He screamed, making his gems glow even more. Klonoa smirked again and showed him… Two other jewels. That made the evil pirate's jaw drop like an anvil on someone's head. "How… Where did you get those!?" He demanded to know. And thus, the long eared, black furred, cat / rabbit hybrid, couldn't help but laugh…

I like this kid… Eeh eeh eeh.

* * *

Somewhere, in a long forgotten wasteland, a certain two-tailed vulpine was struggling against the perils of unfriendly weather, as well as his own guilty feelings towards a certain cabbit boy of his knowledge. One could almost say the deadly coldness of this post-nuclear winter was basically the metaphoric reflection of the fox's troubled soul… A soul tragically divided between a forgotten life who's eventual retrieval would make him suffer even more, and his current doubts and memories, his unanswered questions and the mind bumbling sensation of being just a small, insignificant sand molecule inside a giant hourglass… That's probably a feeling any of us had experienced at least one time during the course of our life, but that's just a worthless thought of mine. As he tiredly forced himself to walking into his suffering path, Tails would often ask himself if it was really worth it… And I'm not just talking about this whole rather annoying quest for the emeralds and the like, I'm referring to his very physical life. He couldn't quite tell what either made him think of this eventuality, if it was the recent events or the inspiring place he has ended up in, or when he exactly began to even consider it… But, all of sudden, the easy way out, the idea of simply escaping this living hell manufactured with suffering lost memories and current unpleasant ones, started to be quite appealing in the Kitsune's mind.

Then... He saw him.

It was uncalled for and un-multiversally quick, but as soon as his baffled gaze posed itself over him… A significant part of his memories came back to life from the figurative graveyard of his supposed to be dead past. For the first time in ages, Tails felt a sensation he couldn't even recognize at first, he felt relief and euphoric joy, the kind of feelings only sure knowledge could give him. With neither doubts nor fear in his heart, the fox yelled his name in the distance.

"LUCARIO!!!" And thus, the aforementioned divine blue jackal slowly turned himself to gaze at the one who dared to yell his name… Also revealing the silhouette of a certain midget Tails could not recognize. "LUCARIO, IT'S ME, TAILS!!!" He yelled once again, earning an odd look from the God's part. As the jackal's red eyes fixed themselves over the vulpine, something in the back of his own memory snapped as well, making him to actually recognize this two-tailed stranger.

Great was the vulpine's joy as he noticed a genuine spark of familiarity in Lucario's eyes and they gazed each other like old pals… For Tails it felt like heaven; this was his chance to finally retrieve all of his lost memories, to be himself again, to be alive…

Suddenly, he was stabbed in the back by a sharp clawed hand that managed to went through his whole body and reappear out of his torso... "O Fortuna" began to play. As Tails calmly watched this ominous appendage covered in his own blood, a single thought crossed his mind: The unshaped creature who once attacked him in that void had finally found him.

The claw quickly retreated itself from the tunnel it had excavated into the Kitsune's upper body, letting entire rivers of blood to relentlessly fall onto the former white snow…

Tails's blank expression only had the time to turn and see his killer's face before inevitably falling to the reddened ground of his soon to be death bed. There he was, the same creature that caused his memory loss, only this time its form was dreadfully clear… His unmistakable, black furred, red eyed, hedgehog form.

It was Shadow… It has always been Shadow all along. He was the traitor of the group and now, he had just killed one of the main characters. He grinned at his handiwork, showing sharp fangs, as he started to lick his own, blood covered clawed fingers.

Tails stood in the pool of his own liquid horizontally, with his lifeless face eternally fixed on his murderer's form, thus finally emitting his last breath… All the pain was long gone as the numbness of Death overcame.

Miles "Tails" Prower was dead... "O Fortuna" stopped playing.

And guess what… Cliffhanger! Eeh eeh eeh XD.


	9. Chapter 8

**8.**

There is something you all need to understand. When a story is being narrated, there's no certainty or security whatsoever that its narrator will be honest to his public… There's no telling whether he would be truthful to his audience or just plain mocking, because such is the burden of a storyteller: to do anything in his power to capture his spectators' attention, even by using mischief and misguide, and everything for the sake of the story itself, which would sound more interesting even though it really isn't… Besides, your baffled expressions are delicatessens for my enhanced tastes.

Let us re-view the most recent events, shall we? Tails was killed by Shadow the Hedgehog aka the "unshaped creature" aka the traitor aka the secret Author's agent, right in front of Lucario's stupefied expression… Seemingly causing a certain hourglass of our knowledge to crack open, releasing its sand, specifically, the blue jackal's sealed fate. Now, I bet all of you assumed that this tragedy was happening in the exact same moment of when our favorite hybrid child (Klonoa) was fighting against the latest demonic source of evil, right? Tsk, tsk, tsk… You people never learn, uh?

* * *

He woke up in the midst of the lively vegetation he previously fell asleep in thanks to the knocking out assist of his former vulpine companion. His head hurt as if the entire pantheon of Hell was dancing on it… With some effort he managed to escape the annoying dizziness that always befell on awakening people, letting his almost infallible memory remind him of his latest, weird dream…

He was with that funny pirate boy and that flying monkey thingamajig in a curious lava filled environment, fighting and successfully beating stinky brown material out of a certain buccaneer demon from hell, in a fierce duel involving 4 Chaos Emeralds… Then an explosion occurred and everything went blank.

As his viewing sight returned to its normal status, something rather noticeable was clutched in his hands; within a rather bewildered expression Klonoa noticed the very 2 Chaos Emeralds he happened to possess in his dream, tightly held in his two gloved hands. A demeaning sensation of utter chillness crossed his spine as his facial features twisted themselves in the typical "what the heck is going on" kind of way… You know, this one: 0.o

Perhaps it was the dizziness of his painful awakening, perhaps it was the baffling bafflement of everything about his unique life, but, suddenly, he couldn't help but feel that his peculiar, let's say, trips weren't just bound to bring him into someone else's head… But into whole other worlds, which, in a certain point of view, were basically clusters of several dreams, therefore it didn't really made a great difference in the terms of this story's humble logic… But I'm just digressing here; let us resume the main point now. He was baffled (yes he was) and couldn't quite explain to himself why those two emeralds were in his hands or where did he take them from. Then, his good memory let another piece of genuine remembrance to come back in his mental aid.

* * *

He had already awakened in that forest before, sort of, and his head hurt as if the entire infernal pantheon was dancing on it, kind of… He didn't have the emeralds at the time. Suddenly, a rather loud inter-dimensional portal opened itself right behind him, revealing the immediately recognizable form of his "uncle", Shadow, and the less recognizable form of a strange midget with a metallic mask. His urge to hug his closest surrogate relative was beaten only by the sheer dumbfound-ness that little goofball-like dwarf's appearance transmitted to his childish cerebra: he reminded him of those weird games about collectable monsters and the like, therefore he had to fight the brand new urge to pick him up and put him in one of his pockets… Urge that was easily stopped by the supposed knight-thingy's cold eyes, which sent a wave of genuine fear in the boy's spine. Without wasting many words, the red and black hedgehog (who was bound to be a traitor) gave his adopted nephew a couple of azure and yellow colored gems and told him he would have needed them to fight his next foe. The cabbit gave a baffled look at the two Chaos Emeralds in his hands and before he could ask about any further explanation, his beloved "uncle" knocked him out cold with a sharp side chop on his neck, letting his travel begin…

* * *

He found himself in the midst of a chaos energy's demonstration, specifically, the Chaos Spear launched by the demon pirate Barbaros, and instinctively used the new acquired gems to create a shield made of wind… Apparently, wind was his element, which sounded appropriate since wind is known to be as free as the wind blows… Oh wait, I got confused with all those analogies=(. Anyway, what happened next? Oh sure… He beat the old hulking pirate, then everything exploded and he awoke in the forest again, as far as he could tell.

* * *

Back in the supposed present time, Klonoa was now asking himself how could he do such wondrous things with those shiny gems, when a sudden gust of sleep breeze caught him unprepared, sending him once again into deep rest… Perhaps he had received too many blows for one day.

* * *

Gelid. That was the rightful word that could describe the dead coldness of this frozen scenario, as the young cabbit's teeth mercilessly beat upon each other due to the immense coldness of the hostile environment. It was strange though… If this was a dream, he shouldn't have been able to feel cold, and also he shouldn't have been able to notice that he was dreaming about a frozen wasteland he was stranded into. That is, if this was a dream, or at least, a dream in the common sense of the word, a vivid figment of his own subconscious during a period of sleep… That kind of dream. Then again, despite the great imagination he developed through all of his gaming years, nothing could quite prepare him for what this "dream", or vision if you will, had in store for him. The scene that lay upon his traumatized eyes could be summarized in three simple words: betrayal, blood and death.

1) Betrayal: the one person he relied the most killing his acquired foxy brother;

2) Blood: the vital fluid splattered all over the snowy ground, now painted in red, after the traitor's vile blow;

3) Death: Miles "Tails" Prower's gory features on the red stained bed of his departure.

He screamed in tearful fear and despair, right after realizing about what he really witnessed and subsiding his initial shock, earning his dear uncle Shadow's attention. He smiled at him a diabolical and gunning grin full of conscious madness as he slowly licked his fingers stained with Tails's fresh and still warm blood, in sinister pleasure. Something came out of his reddened mouth, cruel and direct words muttered with fierce conviction towards the now alienated shape of the dreaming kid, who couldn't understand them clearly… Or maybe, his brain didn't let him understand them, because of the inexplicable reaction that such quotes would have had to his cerebra, of the permanent further damage his own soul would have suffered with such horrifying knowledge.

After Shadow finished his sentence, Klonoa was literally popped out from that world as if sucked up from a giant alien vacuum… Apparently, his trip was over.

* * *

This time, he didn't wake up in the wild yet serene midst of an ancient forest. This time, he was in a rather comfortable bed, in a rather fancy bedroom decorated with leaf green walls and small plants all over the place. It felt very peaceful in his mind as he slowly rose from the soft bed with its lovely set sheets. His curious eyes gave a good gaze at his tranquility inducing surroundings, which was an environment that atrociously different from the last one he had visited (physically or mentally), even though all those happy looking flowers put all around him, made him feel a little bit awkward… They were just too girlish, in his opinion. Suddenly, the room's door opened, revealing a shape that at first startled him but then made him almost laugh.

It was a little girl of his own age, he could tell, and she was dressed with a red / purple jester-like costume. She smiled her pretty nose-less face at him, showing pretty blue eyes to her guest; he smiled back at her, in a shy way.

"You're awake!" She said, almost dancing on her toes for the joy. "Mommy will be glad to know!" She added as her aforementioned relative appeared right behind her, with a very inviting breakfast on a tray.

His eyes glued to her form in awe and almost divine adulation. She was a gorgeous teenage girl, with long light green leaf-like hair and a dress made of lively petals. Her eyes were blue like her daughters', her face was nose-less as well. A painful knowledge hit the cabbit boy with the same precision of a marksman with his target; he knew who those girls were… Their memory was still fresh in his mind since the time he borrowed it from Tails's own dreams.

_**Tails… Oh no.** _He thought. We all know why.

The older lady and apparent housekeeper, spoke to him, revealing a sweet and gentle tone that hadn't changed through the years.

"Hi dear, how do you feel?" She asked.

"Yeah, how do you feel?" Mimicked her insanely happy daughter.

"Uhm… Well, I think. For how long was I asleep?" He answered and asked back.

"When you've been brought here, you were still unconscious… About three days ago, I believe." The mother replied.

"May I ask you, who brought me here?" He asked again, never forgetting the good old fashioned polite manners. This time, it was the daughter to answer.

"Two funny looking pirate scoundrels did. They said something about a fierce battle you had against some evil fiery bearded evil that you barely survived and stuff… Say? Are you a superhero or something?"

And thus, everything came back to him… He managed to defeat Barbaros back in there flaming lava environment, but he almost got caught by the inevitable clichéd explosion that followed his big time whooping end, therefore, following this twisted logic, everything that happened between that fight and his actual reawakening in this soft bed, was just a dream…

And thus, it could have never been happened, or so he dearly hoped since his "travels" were always very realistic. He shook his head in the valuable attempt to ignore those doubts and once again gazed his two hosts, putting on his best smile possible.

"I'm Klonoa… Sorry for all the troubles I caused ya." He kindly said… Then his gaze glued on the aforementioned tray breakfast "Ehi is that sandwich for me? YUMMY!! I'm so hungry I could eat a Katamari ball here and now!"… Never mind. Kids will be kids. He made the two females giggle in amusement, then they officially presented themselves to their hungry patient.

"My name is Cosmo." The older of the two said. "And this pesky little jester is my daughter, NiGHTS."

"Hya!" The pesky little jester said.

"Yes… You're Tails's family, right?" Klonoa distractedly said, noticing too late the sheer gravity of his mistake as the warm atmosphere abruptly turned into a colder one.

As I said, kids will be kids.

* * *

But wait, oh loyal spectators, for this chapter hasn't ended yet. Since you've been so patient about my, let's say, blatant antics and since I happen to be in a good mood… Well, more good than usual… I shall grant you some honest and straight answers about these latest peculiar events, which will also provide more useful plot devices for future developments.

Klonoa's trip was not a dream (in the common sense of the word), he has actually traveled through another time and space continuum through his sleep and, therefore, he has truly witnessed Tails's vile murder and the people directly or indirectly involved in the crime… And what about Shadow's seemingly unheard words, you may ask? Well, I think I'll let one of the witnesses tell you.

Enjoy.

* * *

_**There he was. Unmoving and still. Drowned in the invasive pool of his own blood. Vilely murdered by that black hedgehog… And I couldn't do anything to save his life… Just as I couldn't save my own people. The bloody murder stared at me with his likewise eyes, seemingly enjoying both his unspeakable act and my bewildered expression… I loathed him for that. Meta-Knight was still behind me, I could tell; his cold eyes fixed on my form, as well… He told me things… He told me where I could have found my desired revenge but now his words sounded completely dull in my mind, as a disfiguring new amount of memories came back to me… Memories about things I was yet to do, remembrances about my inter-dimensional journey, my failed revenge, people I saved and people I killed… And about a two-tailed Kitsune who couldn't let his hate go… The same vulpine who now lay dead on the once soft and white snow, by the hands of a diabolical being that wouldn't stop staring at me… As if knowing something I didn't. It bothered me, to say the very least… Some God I am!**_

_**Suddenly, a high-perched scream filled the dead atmosphere of this forsaken land. It was a child in a very peculiar outfit… His unique features hardly reminded me of a feline. What was he doing out here? Where was he from? Call it "Godly instinct", but I couldn't help but think he was somehow important to me… I wonder why? The murderous rodent's attention was now all on the young terrorized lad and the venomous words that escaped his lips, left me no doubts about my next course of actions…**_

_**With his hand still stained with the vulpine's blood, the killer stared at the scarred kit who just witnessed the whole scene; an expression of pure terror was printed on his young face as the black hedgehog from Hell, slowly but venomously, muttered the one line no one would want to hear… Not even a God.**_

**"_Yes… He's dead, oh dear nephew. I killed him… Just as I killed your parents!" And then, he laughed… And I couldn't take it anymore._**

* * *

Well, that's it for now. What? You want more answers? Eeh eeh eeh… TOO BAD! XD


	10. Chapter 9

**9.**

The unforgiving lightning of Inspiration has stricken my fragile form once again, oh loyal spectators! In other words, I have just had another of my genuinely wacky ideas to bring you answers for established plot devices while creating even more confusion to your easily suggestive minds… This following chapter shall be narrated by several points of view from several characters of this Chaos forsaken story. Which ones, you may ask? Do I really need to laugh at your baffling naiveté one more time? Now stay on your seat, R & R, and be drowned by this roller coasting ride of bewildering narrative puzzles like a so-called crazy Bavarian king died in mysterious circumstances…

Just keep reading.

* * *

**L.**

_**Suddenly I felt as if I had nothing else to lose… In a sense, it really was that way. I have lost everything worthy of a living a long time ago and yet, here I was, simply unable to die. Such is the burden of a God and, sadly, that burden is the only thing left that defines me as a God… All the rest is just a redundant cluster of painful grief, profound sadness… And sudden blind fury! Now that I think about it, my own wrath is another thing that defines me as God… My divine wrath!**_

_**There are things that a being like me is supposed to have… Universal Knowledge and Certainty are two of them. It is just ironic then, that for all of my inexplicable existence I never truly know a single thing… Not even of my own origins, if I've ever had some of course. Then, this peculiar young fox with two tails, a being that could have very well been considered the result of a divine prank, appeared from out of nowhere, claiming to know me… And the ludicrous part was that I knew him as well! Memories began to reestablish themselves in my age old mind as the venomous and suffering sensation of a disfiguring déjà-vow kept repeating itself over and over again: my entire immortal life.**_

_**After witnessing both the fox's assassination and that poor kid's traumatizing experience, I felt caught by an indomitable rage that went beyond the simple hatred towards the one responsible for this crime… It was something deeper and suffocating, as if I somehow knew everything about that smirking black hedgehog who dared to look at me with his taunting features… I felt the insuppressible urge to slaughter him, here and now.**_

_**I darted at lighting speed towards the red striped devil that wouldn't stop smirking, but my outburst was immediately (and sadly, easily) halted by someone else's intervention. As I quickly recovered from the sharp blow my sternum received, I realized just who saved the ever so arrogant rodent from my justified rage. Meta-Knight, the one who swore to help me, stood between me and the hedgehog, his twisted, golden mockery of a sword firmly held in his fingerless hand. To tell the truth, I wasn't really surprised about this knight's true colors, but what really baffled me, was the fact that his sword's sharp blow managed to actually hurt me… **_

_**A bleeding wound was placed on my chest, causing the inevitable dizziness and numbness of fainting to reach my supposed indomitable fury. I fell unconscious a second after… The cursed hedgehog was still laughing.**_

* * *

**K.**

_**I really wished I could be somewhere else at that moment… Me and my stupid mouth! I wouldn't be able to keep a secret with my freaking life on the line...**_

_**Needless to say, after the embarrassing blowing up of my secret knowledge, I was forced to reveal to those girls, the full story… And I mean, all of it. I told them about the emeralds, the searching party, the Author, my inconvenient ability to travel through dreams… And everything I knew about Him. At first, it was difficult and awkward but then, the words began to spread out of my mouth as if possessed by some mysterious power and stuff… Boy, I wish I could do original analogies like Dimentio. After I finished my speech, I felt somehow lighter… I felt as I finally managed to release all the burdening weight I've been forced to live with for all my life. I felt relieved… Then, as my generous hosts' expressions began to twist in tearful sadness, I fell into a state of guilty depression. I knew it was all my fault… Gee, I'm so stupid. I'm nothing more than a dumb kid who's played too many games and got his brain fried for good. My thoughts immediately switched on the dreadfully dying features of my former companion… What if my dream wasn't an actual dream? I mean, a dream in the common sense of the word… What if he had actually been murdered by the blood stained hands of uncle Shadow? **_

**_No… I just… I can't… No, nonononononononono… __NO! … Tails, what happened to you, man? Why… Why did you do this to your family? Why did you force them to leave you? Why do you hate Life so much? I wish I could know you better… I hope you're not dead… I… I must do something about it! _**

_**It was in that moment that I made a solemn decision… I would have protected Tails's family with my own life, if necessary! It was the only way to ease my guilt… Yes, I'm such an egotistical hypocrite, I know. As I exited my derailed train of thoughts, I laid my eyes upon the crying features of the not so anymore happy, jester girl who wouldn't stop staring at me with her big pleading eyes… And the thoroughly sad form of her mother, who's gaze was fixed over an empty spot… Empty like her own eyes. She had no more tears to share and I was frightened by that. The daughter approached me with her doll held tight in her chest; her shiny blue eyes were glued on me, making both my heart and my mind melt like hot chocolate… I couldn't quite understand the reason of this sudden sensation and it bothered me. At first, I thought it was because of my guilty feelings towards her… But then, I realized it was something else, something foreign to me… And, naturally, it frightened me. When she was near enough, which almost made me jump in fear, she asked me with her sweet voice if her beloved daddy missed her… The proverbial anvil of guilt fell on my shoulders, pinning me on the ground, as I shamefully lied to her about her daddy's memory loss, which was the only thing I managed to omit from my recent speech. What would have you done if you were in my pants? Wait… Who am I talking to? Who goes there?**_

_**EHI! STOP READING MY PRIVATE THOUGHTS!**_

* * *

**M.**

_**It is in moments like these that I regret being an inter-dimensional guardian… And having a brother, of course! "Easy money, bro!" "No big deal!" He said… Stupido Paisa! I'm-a so angry, not only he managed to lose all the Chaos Emeralds, aside for one, because that crazed vulpine jumped on him during the transportation… But he even forgot our spaceship in that blasted dimension! Argh… **_

_**I'm gonna kick his posteriore peloso fino a farlo morire dissanguato, I'm-a so angry I wish I coulda mangiare le mie stesse braccia e morire strozzato con i miei gomiti! Ooooh, but that's not even the best part, oh no no no no… **_

_**Now we'll have to report the whole thing to our boss, and I already know he won't be happy about it… I really wish my stupid brother would stop talking for at least 5 minutes… Even better, breathing! And why there were those listening devices placed on our hats? Chi diavolo placed them!?**_

* * *

**L.**

_**I woke up later in a soft and comfortable bed… The wounds I had on my chest somehow healed. It didn't take too long for me to understand I have been saved from certain death… It is indeed ironic for a God like me to be saved from certain death. My mind was a painful cluster of unanswered questions mainly veering around the fact that Meta-Knight's sword almost killed me… And the fact that I was not so divine, after all. The discovery of my own mortality was a shock, to say the very least and… Also strangely refreshing. I could be killed… Maybe I wasn't even a God, maybe all my life has been an illusion, a fake dream from which I've managed to escape only now… Maybe this place… This castle (?) was my real home, my real fate… **_

_**I realized how little I knew about me and being a God, the very same moment I had the opportunity to speak with the actual master of the house, a peculiar creature who happened to experience in first person, the disfiguring paradox of being an imperfect God.**_

* * *

**C.**

_**Oh Tails… What have you been through? When myself and our daughter left you, I somehow knew you were going to do such foolishness… Yet, I only now realized it's been a mistake. If we would have remained by your side, maybe all this wouldn't have to happen… But… All those bodies, Tails, all those corpses… I couldn't forgive you.**_

_**I just couldn't…**_

* * *

**N.**

_**You know, Reala? I really miss daddy… But I'm glad I met Klonoa. Maybe he will help us to reunite with him! Wouldn't it be grand, eh Reala? We'll be a happy family again! … Yes, I know we have never been happy but at least we were a family, can't you understand this, Reala? Oh, I know you would, you are my best friend, after all… Let's go play with Klonoa!**_

* * *

**K.**

_**And now she wants me to play with her and her creepy doll… There is definitely something wrong with this girl… But I'm a fine one to talk. **_

_**WILL YOU PLEASE RESPECT MY PRIVACY AND GO AWAY!?**_

* * *

**V.**

_**From our point of view, it's been no more than a week since our forced exile from our home dimension due to our common accursed past for which both humans and Mobians hadn't forgave us… But as I realized, one week in this dimension corresponded to at least 8 years in the world we came from. **_

_**8 years since we left everything we had to rot in the merciless course of Time.**_

_**8 years since we abandoned the rest of our family to fetch for their own in that hostile environment.**_

_**8 years since the day I last saw my parents and baby sister… My daughter's grandparents and younger aunt.**_

_**Even though it has only been a week for us, I could still feel all the precious years with them forever lost in the sadistic continuum of different dimensions. When my family and I had to leave our home, a well known sensation of sad knowledge pervaded us… We knew that we weren't going to come back… Just like when we had to leave our previous home: Maginary World, the realm I managed to create from my own thoughts and dreams, didn't need me in the end… My children needed independence, needed to commit their own mistakes and put their own remedies to them… That was the reason why we left it, unlike our true home, which, ironically enough, didn't accept our existence, as if we were bad dreams to be disposed of… Cruel irony seems to be my eternal life motif. **_

_**As well as my famous namesake emptiness… Emptiness not even my beloved wife and daughter could fill. I've come to terms with my condition a long time ago… I convinced myself to be that peculiar symbolic icon my name and recent role seemed to suggest…**_

_**The Void within everyone's souls, the constant reminder of the emptiness that needs to be fill, of the sheer importance of emotions and feelings, which blows… It really does! Or at least it did, until I met this curious white and black jester with a strange white book and very interesting story so unbelievable that it had to be true.**_

_**And thus, I once again had to resort on those plumbers and their convenient time / space traveling devices… They already did a good job taking us into this dimension, therefore a little Chaos Emeralds' hunting shouldn't have to be a big trouble, right?**_

* * *

**M.**

_**The boss wasn't really happy about our failure (and I mean, my brother's failure), just as I thought… Wait a minute, how's that jackal arrived here!?**_

* * *

**V.**

_**So… That jester is back and he brought me the dying form of the one directly responsible for my father's outburst of madness… He managed to snatch him from certain death just in the nick of time and now he wanted me to heal him. Naturally, I was reluctant in doing such thing at first… Then he told me about my father's death by the hands of the greatest among traitors and I suddenly found myself in need of answers, therefore I decided to take the blue jackal under my protection for a while and questioned him later.**_

_**My father is dead… Murdered by someone who should have been dead… It was curious how I couldn't feel either shock or sadness at that knowledge; it bothered me, to say the very least. Before leaving, the weird jester asked me to have back the Light Prognosticus he had so generously given to me. He told me he would have needed it to start a certain plot device in another timeline… I didn't get it. He also told me he took the liberty to transfer my mother and my baby sister into another dimension for security matters and that, right now, a very trustable person was looking for their health… He also told me that our "right now" could have been their "has happened" or vice-versa, whatever he meant with it… I just refused to let myself to be absorbed in such disfiguring time / space paradoxes, again. I put the wounded jackal in my bed and healed him with my powers, which have gotten a lot better through the years… Or months… Or days, whatever! **_

_**When he awoke later, we could finally talk.**_

* * *

**S.**

_**I was a fool… I sacrificed my own life to save others'. It was before being illuminated with the undeniable truth of the universe… It was before being saved from my supposed sealed fate, only to learn that it was just both the end and the beginning of it… Thanks to him! All I have to do in exchange, was to send that little missile in a precise dimension of his choosing and let it explode, killing everything in its path and providing the fundamental twist of a certain plotline. Then I had to go in another world, a world very similar to my own, and kill a disgusting hybrid and his Mobian whore… **_

_**I took out the blond humanoid while he was trying to escape from his enemies, then I found the bunny bitch and set his house on fire! The reasons behind my actions have been soon revealed to me but I really didn't care about them… I didn't care if they were meant to happen for the sake of the Story, I just wanted to unleash pain and destruction, because that's what I was meant to be when the stupid humans created me… The Ultimate Weapon! Yet, I still seem to be outmatched by those two giant hands… It bothers me but I'll comply with that, for now.**_

_**After my successful job, I was ask to look for the disgusting result of that rabbit's wombs, right after killing his step grandfather, in yet another world… Those have been boring years, to say the very least. I had to pretend to be the usual dumb amnesiac and actually being "nice" to that kid. Luckily, that worthless façade ended when the vulpine finally showed up, successfully triggering the successive events to the moment I'd personally had the privilege to kill him! To feel his warm blood on my naked skin and glee in utter pleasure… I'm a little disappointed though, what made my master think that I would have needed help to recover the yellow Chaos Emerald from that medieval land and to fight that phony God? I don't know anything about this Meta-Knight guy and I don't really like him.**_

_**On a side note, it has been so fun to cause both Tails and that blue jackal their disfiguring loss of memory, I didn't know I was so good in causing head traumas! Now all I have to do is wait... The moment of his rebirth is near.**_

_**Soon enough, the Author shall be freed… And all thanks to the humans!**_

* * *

**T.**

_**Where… Am… I?**_

* * *

Bottom line, folks: Klonoa has been brought to Cosmo and NiGHTS by me, just like Lucario has been warped to Void, who happened to be the Mario brothers' boss and live in a castle, somewhere… Shadow is a twisted bastard, the humans are going to cause their own demise (as always) and someone might not be dead… Oh, and NiGHTS loves her creepy doll… And I'm starting to think there are too many jesters around.

Now I'll just watch you fall into the deep cliff of your hanging-ness and laugh my lungs out of pure nefarious maliciousness… Ehi, I've got it rhymed, yay for me!


	11. Chapter 10

**10.**

There are moments in which even the best storytellers (such as moi) make horrible mistakes or inconvenient plot holes by simply forgetting some rather important element of the story they are narrating, especially if it is a tragically long one. Fortunately for you, a good storyteller (such as moi) has the ability to take those mistakes and reshape them as actually wanted plot holes for the sake of his public's confusion, and their overall cliffhanger-ness.

What I need you to do now is to go back with your memory, or perhaps go forward since the timeline here is completely messed up, until the very first chapter of this arguably epic saga… Done? No? Uff… You're so lazy, aren't you? Okay, I'll give you a hint, as always: remember the first paragraph of chapter 1? When I began the narration by depicting the tragic murder of a certain someone by the murderous hands of a certain someone else? You do? Great! Now you'll probably be thinking: "Ehi Dimentio, that's Tails and Shadow we're talking about, right?" Well, YOU'RE WRONG! But that's not all, my friends, oh no no no no… Remember the last part of the same chapter? When I so accurately described the typical evil plotting-like scenario between two mysterious characters yet to be presented? You do? Really? Maybe your skulls are less thicker than I imagined… Or maybe you're just lying to me, either way I'm quite confident about what your next question would be: "Ehi Dimentio, those two are Meta-Knight and the mysterious guy who loves 'O Fortuna' that… Could be… You?" A good point but wrong none the less. I think it's finally time for me to explain to you a rather dark side of this Chaos forsaken mess I refer to as a legendary, timeless tale… Eeh, timeless, an appropriate involuntary joke, indeed.

Let's get cracking!

* * *

Once upon a specific yet unimportant time, in a land that used to be far far away before the invention of the airplanes and the world wide web, someone was dying (déjà-vow, anybody?), by the murderous hands of someone else who killed him for the most vile among reasons: he poisoned his brother, who happened to be the king of Denmark, with a few droplets of Cicuta, hence allowing him to steal his throne and sleep with his queen, making the dead king's only son very angry at him... Needless to say, once the rightful successor discovered the truth about his father's death (with the help of his father's own ghost and a very elaborate trick that included some jester and a certain theatrical representation), everything went downhill… Specifically, almost everyone died.

The end.

Once the very exciting play was over, the small but emotionally hit crowd of the old theatre applauded with passion at its amazing actors, who politely bowed in sign of appreciation. I know you've already noticed the genuine forth wall breaking irony of having a fictional play inside another fictional story, therefore I'm not going to point that out... Let's just leave that old theatre to rot within the merciless boundaries of anything that wasn't modern television and Internet, for focusing our attention over a couple of old comrades meeting each other in a strange fantasy-like world…

"The two have met, sir." Said one.

"Excellent… The Author shall be pleased." The other said in a very deep and demanding tone.

"Making an Elf ranger going out with an Orc blacksmith is worth 5000 exp points, at least!" The strange looking human-like bearded midget stated in incomprehensible excitement.

"Yep! This game's Author is a freaking genius! Let's go messing with some n00b at the pub, now." The tall man who was the leader of the party proudly stated, earning a positive answer by of his underling.

And thus, the two rather unoriginal avatars made their way towards their next adventure, while their over weighted "real life" counterparts never moved from their dark and gloomy rooms, probably wondering if that strange black hedgehog and that knight dwarf who got involved in the latest on-line war, were elaborately hacked avatars or just a glitch of the program…

TA-DAA! Here's how a storyteller makes up for his mistakes… By fooling you, not once but twice! Eeh eeh eeh… I can see you are a little resented by this uncanny non-sense-ness of mine, but worry do not, oh inexplicably loyal spectators, I know exactly how to gain your forgiveness. Did I tell you that the world we're currently visiting, is entirely filled with… Two-tailed, anthropomorphic foxes? No? Well, it is!

Cliffhanger!

Naah, I'm just kidding… I would be a complete bastard to interrupt the story at this point, wouldn't I? It's tempting though. Anyway, let's get down to the point, shall we? This is one of those generated alternative futures in which Kitsune with extra appendages have become the dominant species thanks to a variable combination of evolution, procreation, wisdom and wars… Mostly wars, actually. It was somehow both weird an appropriate that their society didn't look very different from how the humans' used to be: on-line RPG worlds were still popular, as well as FPS bloodbaths, everyone loved animated shows with yellow eye-balled characters or poorly drawn cynic kids, and whether or not bombarding a random Mideast location for whatever reason used to be a hot political debate at the time…A utopia of Orwell and Bradbury's proportions, indeed. I'm just digressing here, therefore I'm now going to point out the reason of why we need to be interested in this rather paradigmatic version of an aforementioned reality, and here He is.

* * *

He woke up in a rather comfortable hospital bed (I wonder how many times have I begun a paragraph with that sentence by now), his head hurt like a fast paced roller coaster grinding living beings on its rail. His currently ungloved hand crossed the particular point on his forehead where he had that nasty scar that symbolized his recent miseries; thus, part of his limited memory returned to him like a long lost collie dog would miraculously return to its child owner… Only that it wasn't a pleasant experience. With sharp teeth grinding in rage and eyes' pupils suddenly shrank in feral fashion, Miles "Tails" Prower scornfully remembered that he has been vilely betrayed and left for dead by a fellow he wrongly trusted. His mind conveniently skipped the somewhat fundamental question about his improbable return to the land of the livings from the land of the dead… Such was his desire of vengeance towards the traitorous hedgehog. Then another thought came to his boiling mind, a less selfish one, that managed to soften his twisted facial features… Klonoa. The fate of the young cabbit he, due to a disfiguring time paradox, gave birth from his dead mother's womb, hence driving him into experiencing a strangely familiar paternal feeling over the kid, who, by now, could have been in grave danger because of his double-faced "uncle", was at risk. All of those preoccupations, however, vanished into thin air like a shy ghost when casually spotted, once he noticed where he exactly has ended up. It was not a regular hospital bedroom, not in the "still alive" sense of the word, at least… It was a morgue and he was lying on a cold metallic stretcher, just like all the other corpses beside him.

He freaked out :)

The first thing he did after the hair-raising yell that was heard in all the facility, was to descend from his supposed death bed (tripping and falling, I should say) and start running like a possessed bloodthirsty undead freak through the entire hospital, terrorizing anybody on eye sight. Once he was finally out of the building, he found shelter in the typical dark alley any kind of fugitive would find shelter in… Naturally, it was raining. The dim light of the street lamps was enough for him to witness a rather uncomfortable event that was happening right in front of his eyes… Down there, on the cold and dirty ground of the city's underworld, where the merciless rain reshaped itself into an indomitable river between the pavement and the occasional sewer's holes, a different liquid joined the water bonanza… A redder one. With his eyes now filled with baffling fear, Tails could now clearly see the unmistakable answer to both his never self questioned still aliveness and the reason of his presence in that morgue… His was not alive. He was dead, as the large blood purring hole where his stomach used to be, cleverly suggested him.

He freaked out again :(

It was at that time that I finally decided to show up and enlighten him with the ever so confusing light of Knowledge... Or something that closely resembled it. As soon as I appeared right in front of him, he freaked out… Okay, this has gotten old pretty fast, I admit it. Once both his more than justified freak-out-ness and the successive attempt to strangle me subsided, I could finally explain the exact reason of why he could not peacefully die just yet…

"Because the story still needs you… You're the main character, remember?" I cheerfully stated, earning a scornful glare of utter disdain… He really hated me.

"Ooooh, so my role in this Chaos forsaken plot of yours is so important that I'm not even allowed dying when… WHEN I FREAKING DIE!!?" He yelled in distress for absolutely no reason, in my relaxed opinion.

"On the contrary… We're all so insignificant in the grand chaotic scheme of things that even the most fate changing among events, like the uncalled for death of a so-called main character, could prevent things to go in their predetermined ways… In the end, we're all just players! Simple, right?" I cheerfully stated while amusingly observing my unwilling interlocutor clutching his aching head in pain, urging me to "shut the hell up" and some other colorful addition. "By the way… You should thank me. When I teleported you in this dimension I prevented that traitorous Shadow to overly mutilate your body for personal amusement… So you now have just one big hole in your stomach instead of a missing limb. Happy?" I advanced, earning yet another series of insults no living being should know about. "Anyway, I think we should go now… It's almost here." I suddenly stated in a slightly less joking tone.

"What?" Tails asked me, somehow worried by my changed attitude. My readied response came immediately after.

"Crazy Hand." As soon as I said it, that world's reality bended, allowing a certain giant hand to appear out of nowhere.

No maniacal laugh followed the scenic debut of the Author's left hand. As soon as it chose its first target (which happened to be the hospital Tails escaped from), the namesake appendage began to relentlessly destroy everything in its path, without even enjoying its actions like its brother used to do… It was just a senseless, irrational portrait of wanton destruction and loud battle cries.

Tails's eyes were widened in utter disbelief and fear; that was the first time he saw one of the Author's agents at work, and, guess what, it made him freak out! I slowly flew right behind his petrified form, delicately grabbed his shoulder and calmly whispered in his foxy ear what he was meant to do from now on. He looked at me with his big blue eyes filled with sincere, dare I say, childish concern, before eventually nodding.

"Let us go Miles. The show must go on!" And with that said, I opened a portal out of thin air, took his now limp hand, and dived in it along with my forced companion.

Destination: unknown… To you!

Ha-ha! XD

* * *

**A/N: Read "Peripeteia: Uebermensch"**


	12. XD

**...**

A rainbow-colored bonanza of unmistakable happy-go-lucky decorations filled the reassuring, almost pedagogic, atmosphere of the humble open theatre. Over the last few minutes, people of unknown origin and age have gathered in its surprisingly comfortable seats to witness the small show they didn't pay to see. Once the facility was filled, a couple of atrociously colourful stage lights enlightened the handmade curtains; a genuine round of applauses came as follow from the now cheering crowd of satisfied parents.

The school play was about to begin!

The curtains opened themselves, as if feeding from the public consensus, revealing the quite festive appearances of tonight's host: a little girl dressed with bright purple and red jester's clothes and a by-directional violet jester's hat. She placed her joyful light blue eyes on the confronting crowd and emphatically bowed in front of them, earning several encouraging claps; the broad smile delicately plastered on her cutely round, nose-less face never failed to be shown.

"Hello there, oh loyal spectators… welcome to our humble show!" She started to sing while performing an astounding number of pirouettes and other classic ballet's extravaganzas; climatic music played in the background. "We have a very special cast for tonight's spectacle; isn't that right, Reala?" As soon as the ever so happily dancing jester said that, another peculiar clowny character came out of the backstage, making his way (or better, dancing) towards his smaller counterpart. He looked like an older, bigger, reddish and somehow eviller, version of her.

"Indeed we have, dear NiGHTS!" The mascara covered, daemonic jester responded while catching up with the little girl's musical rhythm and dancing the night away… no pun intended. "Care to tell us about the play, my beloved festive friend?" He added in the midst of some unidentified ballet move.

"Glad you asked, oh fellow buffoon! This is a story full of magic, of adventure, of emotion…" She began while improvising a Waltz with her partner.

"You don't say…" He commented while turning the Waltz into Flamenco.

"… but also love, uncalled for tragedies and even genuine horror…" She continued; her form was launched upon the air, only to be retrieved a moment after.

"I'm already shaking in anticipation!" And now it was Tango time!

"… it'll make you laugh, it'll make you cry, perhaps, it'll even make you think!"

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get started, NiGHTS!"

"Feast your eyes on this stage, oh loyal spectators, for this play is about to begin!" And thus, the exhibition was concluded by a deranged, over the top, Charleston dance, which earned a cheerful reaction from the crowd's part.

Both jesters inclined themselves in sign of gratitude and returned appreciation before the lights went out.

NiGHTS began the narration…

* * *

**The Happy Colored Theatre of Joyful Dreams proudly presents:**

**A **

**NiGHTS & Reala (Not Dimentio) Production**

* * *

**LOVE IS A DREAMING THING!**

* * *

**Starring:**

**NiGHTS as _The Jester_**

**Klonoa as _The Dream Traveller_**

**Reala as _Reala Doll_**

**The Monster as Himself**

**Narrated by:**

**NiGHTS**

**Written and by:**

**The Author**

**Directed by:**

**Someone who's not Dimentio**

* * *

**Act 1.**

Everything was so vivid and happy and cool. The flowers blossomed and the wind gently blew their delicate petals. Rainbow colours filled the morning sky and it was so cute! I was flying in the midst of such beauty as my non-visible ears perceived the glorious sound of the love birds… those were cute too! I was in my adult form (or better, the form I think I'll get once I'll become an adult) and I was playfully playing around with the oh so overrated laws of physics when… suddenly… the bright luminosity of my own Nightopia faded away; a black cloud full of anger and hatred took its place. Naturally, I was scared to death: all of my beloved happy animals and plants were gone; an atmosphere of profound sadness found its way in this once peaceful realm.

"The dream is over, Nights… your Reality is calling!" A harsh, mean voice stated. Almost in tears, I slowly turned my head towards the voice, only to be faced by the ominous sight of my doll, Reala. He looked so bad and meanie; his smile seemed so evil and his eyes shined in pure malignity. "You cannot run forever, little jester… nor you can fly!" With that said, I suddenly lost my superpowers and fell to the ground; he laughed at me (the big bully). "Sooner or later, you'll have to face me… you'll have to face your worst nightmares… you'll have to face your deepest fears!" I clutched my ears in the attempt to ignore his evil speech, but to no use. "And until then…" He trailed on. "… every time you'll fall asleep, every time you'll feel tired or nap induced, every time you'll lower your guard… I'll be there, waiting! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" And thus, I began yelling as the once puffy and harmless soil started eating me…

I woke up in my bed, my beloved Jackle doll tight in my grasp. I didn't call out for my mom this time, I silently cried instead. It's been a few days now that I was having this bad dream… my own Nightopia, as I chose to name it, used to be my refuge, my happiest fun place, but now I was frightened of it. I almost hated it, such I was frightened. I slowly began to despise all the cute things of my childhood: flowers, little animals, the sun and nature in general. I've realized that, for some reason, I wasn't happy anymore; I've become moody and gloomy. I even stopped making jokes and pranks to unsuspecting victims…

And all because of Him!

After that funny looking kid's arrival and his scary tales about daddy being evil and stuff, the nightmares began. He said a lot of bad things about my dad: that he wanted to hurt all the humans, that he forgot about us, that his heart was corrupted by his own sadness… but it was all a lie! It had to be a lie! My daddy wouldn't hurt a fly! my daddy was a hero! My daddy loved his family… he loved me. He would never forget me and mom! That's it… that boy was nothing but a big meanie and a liar! I bet he was the one who's keeping dad away! I had to get rid of him, no matter what, he had to leave! I hated him!

As I mentally restrained myself, already planning my revenge, I gave a good look at my precious Jackle doll, only to remember that my precious Jackle doll has been broken for quite some time… In fact, it wasn't Jackle… it was Reala! I hastily threw the cursed puppet away and instinctively hugged my knees. Tears purred out of my eyes as I began to rock back and forth…

I hated Reala too.

* * *

**Act 2.**

It was an obnoxiously sunny day, with annoyingly lively plants and dumb singing birds all over the oh so boringly beautiful forest. Ever since my mom and I have been brought to this place, nothing had really changed; it all looked as fake as ever! Seriously, all the surrounding nature, all the overly cute animals, they all seemed made of plastic, driven by some mechanical device that made them act like that… like in some ugly kids' show.

And to think that the dude that brought us here looked so cool with his mask and his cloak and his magic tricks… he even taught me some of his seemingly infinite knowledge about pranks and the stuff: like the "Ripping your face in front of a baffled crowd" number or the awesome exploding Jack in the Box! It left me dumbfounded that he decided to seal us into this corny world for "convenient security measures (and future plot devices)", as he put it. None the less, I was bored as Purgatory for the time being… ehe, that was a funny line. Thanks Dimentio!

As I meticulously hid above one of those "plasticized" tree, waiting for my chosen victim to show up, I couldn't help but randomly wonder: how could a bee make a flower pregnant? I remembered asking my mother about this issue… it left her rather baffled, to say the least. My current Hong Kong express of thoughts reached a stop as my defiant nemesis finally decided to show up his dumb bunny likenesses.

There he was, with his stupid Pac-Man hat, his geeky outfits… his cute, long, fluffy ears, his gorgeous eyes, errrrr… I mean, his maleficent long ears and his mischievous glare! Yeah, he was not cute… he's not charming… he didn't look so sad and depressed… not at all.

Not at all…

I shook those un-vengeful, sympathizing thoughts away from my head rather violently, which almost made my hat fall to the ground. The last thing I needed was to reveal my position to the enemy, especially since I was ready to drop the bomb on him… quite literally! The overused Wagner's symphony about Valkiries began playing inside my head as I turned my purple jester hat into a purple, barb-wired war helmet.

As that famous, ancestral song would say: "This is The End, my friend."

But before the rightful exaction of my deeply pondered vindication, I think it would be swell of me to fill you, oh loyal spectators, with some cool, necessary, redundant… back story! Yay for back stories!

The date of Destiny happened in a rather tranquil night of a few days ago, when these two silly looking flying monkey and piraty-thing knocked our door in desperate search of shelter and, as the strangely golden primate put it: "something to fill our tummies, mate!" or something like that. The unconscious form of a weird looking kid lay on the silent one's shoulders. The monkey (which wasn't a real monkey since he had a rhinarium) also added that they have been sent by our common benefactor: the humble magician and pleaser of crowds, Dimentio! Needless to say, I was ecstatic about that, especially because I remembered what the cool prestidigitator told mother and me one time; he said (I quote): "A few friends of mine shall visit you in the near future… or better, the near future of this specific timeline… you should definitely keep an eye on them, especially the long-eared one. He's kind of your age, NiGHTS! Eeh eeh eeh…" (End quote). That comment made me frown actually, but he immediately cheered me up by pulling a giant battle plane from my ear… daddy's X-Tornado, none the less! What a genius…

It turned out that the cabbit's name was Klonoa and he had this cool superpower that made him travel through dreams and stuff. Too bad he was this bad liar! His malevolent words made me cry and my mother sniff. After that outburst, he decided to leave our home because, as he put it, he didn't want to be a burden to anybody except to himself… gee, what an emo! Uuuuh, look at me, I'm so miserable and said, pity me, uuuuuuh… HA! Nice play, Hamlet, but that didn't impress me at all…

Not at all…

Anyway, he found shelter in some cave and the rest was history. Oh yes, I almost forgot: those two piraty scoundrels disappeared into nothingness, like unwanted sparring actors in a long lasting serial.

Back to the present! Or, as Dimentio would spell it, this timeline's present!

I've been studying my enemy's every move for some time now and I managed to notice that all of his actions were conveniently repetitive; not that there was anything interesting to do in this baffling forest. His main daily activity revolved on a simple contemplation of Mother Nature's wonders aka an excursion to the lame forest I was currently in. My eyes shined in anticipated glee as the unsuspecting home wrecker stepped right on the giant X mark I've placed on the grassy ground; that was my cue! Without wasting precious seconds in self-amusement, I dropped the dreadful, ominous, potentially lethal, water bomb on his head… only to miss him glamorously. Needless to say, I was pissed at my miscalculation, so much, actually, that it made me lose my balance and fall from the tree rather unceremoniously. Strangely enough, the landing turned out to be slightly less harsh than I expected and, when I reopened my eyes, I understood exactly why… I fell right on Klonoa's surprisingly strong arms (ooooh, the shame…).

He looked at me with those big, golden, caring eyes of his; concern was depicted on them.

"Are you ok?" He asked with a very enchanting tone that made me daydream. Before I could register it, I was already lost in his gorgeous eyes.

"Uh?" I shyly replied to his previous question only to finally realize the predicament I was in. "OH!" And thus, I hastily descended from his embrace, struggling to hide my shameful blush. I was mad at him. "Yes, I'm fine! Don't touch me!" But then I remembered my evil scheme involving betrayal and subterfuge, and immediately changed my attitude. "Ehm, I mean… I'm ok. Thanks for rescuing me, Mr. Klonoa!" I put on my best smile on that last statement, along side the sweetest innocent expression any girl could muster; I even had sparkles floating around my head to add more emphasis! This time, it was his turn to blush.

"Gee… it was nothing… really. Ehm, h-how are you anyway? And what about Cosmo, I mean, your mom?" He timidly said while looking cutely embarrassed… I had him!

"She's fine… I mean, much better from before. And you?" I advanced, not without a certain amount of discomfort. For some reason, I had a difficult time trying to contain myself from sweating, and my heart just wouldn't stop beating hard like a concrete-filled boxing glove.

"What?"

"How are you!?"

"Oh! Yes… me. Well… I'm doing just great!" He inconvincibly stated.

"Really?"

"Really!"

"I see… well, it was nice seeing you today!" I politely greeted as I offered my hand to him in sign of (fake) friendship. He looked rather taken aback by the simple act but he tried to act properly anyway.

"Y-yes! You too… it was nice… for me… seeing you… today." He was on the verge of fainting, I could tell and, in truth, I was close to that phase too. He took my hand in order to fulfil the planned handshake, thus falling right into my trap! I tightened my grip on him and… nothing happened. We both stood like that, hand in hand, for a few, dramatically awkward, seconds.

"Errr… I think you can release my hand, now." He proposed.

I did as I was told and, ever so hastily, retreated my limb from his own. I was pissed when I found out I didn't bring my hand buzzer device with me; another prank opportunity completely wasted. Noticing my distress, the ever so worried cat/rabbity-like thingamajig of a boy's attention fixed itself on me, again.

"Is everything alright, NiGHTS?" This time, I could distinctively notice guilt in his voice and facial features, as if he felt himself to be the main responsible for the failure of my brilliant pranks… in a sense, he was.

"Yeah, is everything… EHI, WHAT'S THAT!?" I suddenly yelled, motioning in a random direction.

"WHAT!?" He yelled back, turning his head towards said direction. As soon as he did that, I ran away at lightning speed, leaving a baffled Klonoa alone in the forest. "Uh? What just happened?" He pondered about it for a few minutes right before shrugging, pulling a handheld videogame console out of nowhere and starting killing virtual mushroom freaks by jumping on them, while trying to earn the title of "Master Jedy" during a wrestling competition… sorry I couldn't be more random than that.

Despite my initial failures (and all the others that followed, including "Kick Me" signs, angry bees and vanilla pies launching) I was yet to give up! Stubbornness was my second name, after all… I'll never forget uncle Knuckles, my Godfather, for that one!

As of now, I was currently in the middle of my fifty-eighth attempt and everything was going fine, if I'd say so myself.

"Pick a card!" I ordered my forced playmate. He took the one in the middle… it was NOT the sticky one. "NO! YOU GOT IT ALL WRONG! Let's restart…" His luck was really starting to unnerve me.

"Uhm, NiGHTS?"

"WHAT!?"

"Are you trying to trick me?"

"Uuuuh… nope. What makes you think that?" Oh no! How could he get past my impeccable façade!?

"The 'Kick Me' sign was a good clue… along with all the fifty-eight attempted pranks." Darn…

"Ooooh alright, you got me there. I was trying to trick you… ARE YOU HAPPY, NOW!?" I was so bothered by his now sure of himself-ness and by my repeated mistakes that… that I couldn't take it anymore and began crying like the little, dumb would be jester girl I was. "Some prankster I am… I couldn't even hit you with that stupid water spurting flower! Not to mention all those banana peels… I'M A LOSER!" I was literally drowning myself in tears, such was my frustration. I was so caught by the moment that I couldn't avoid what came next.

He hugged me. It was a loving, tender embrace moved by sympathy, pity, genuine concern or all of them combined. I was completely paralyzed beneath his arms to the point of numb dizziness… my mind was long gone and it felt like heaven, a forbidden, fake heaven, that is… the one you can reach only through your dreams and hopes.

Wow, do I feel romantic or what?

"I'm sorry…" What? What was he saying? "I'm sorry for everything I've said… I'm sorry for causing so many displeasures to you and your mother and I really wish to help Tails, to help your father and your family to deal with his problems…" And now, the Magic was over.

"Problems? Whaddya mean 'problems'?" Once again, I was mad at him as I quickly escaped from his cursed embrace. "What do you know about daddy anyway!? You're just a liar and a meanie!" I was so blinded in my own fury and wrathful tears that I failed to notice Klonoa's face was the portrait of utter guiltiness. "YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A LIAR AND I HATE YOU! I WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN!" And with that said, I ran away for good; leaving a very sad, broken-hearted boy alone in his miseries.

The distinctive noise of something fragile breaking could be heard in my tormented mind as I kept running Chaos knew for how long.

* * *

**Act 3.**

Guiltiness isn't something a jester should feel. Jesters are known to be shameless jokers, abusing deceivers of the gullible ones, pranksters to the core… then again, as my miserable performance undeniably stated, I was not a jester… heck! I wasn't even good enough to be card joker! Ever since I could remember, I've always wanted to be one of those clever and ambiguous crowd pleasers and making people laugh at my antics… ever since daddy and I went to that theatre when I was very little.

It was an open theatre in the midst of a forest nearby a rural village; it happened to be quite humble now that I think about it, but for the time being, in my eyes it looked so neat! I was entranced in the beautiful colours and the lights and all the cool theatrical stuff and everything. I recalled father and me sitting in the first line, therefore we had the stage right up our noses… and it was awesome! The rest of the crowd was noisy but they fell to silence once the general lights went off and the stage was illumined…

And then, the main attraction was presented.

He came out of thin air with several cards floating around his form only to be turned into gorgeous doves by the very magician's hands. I would never forget his unique appearances: he wore an orange-like outfit, a cloak, pointed shoes and bizarre gloves; he had this cool by-directional hat that fascinated me.

I was so thrilled by the show that I almost didn't notice daddy was about to tell me something important, something I would have never been able to forget as long as I would have lived.

"See, NiGHTS? That is a jester… he makes people happy." And thus, my fate was decided.

After the show, daddy and I went to the backstage and we met the crowd pleaser in person; naturally, I was very excited. I went fan-girl on him, yelling incomprehensible things about wanting to be just like him and all that jazz. He smiled at me and, with his magical powers, pulled from my ear a curious puppet that, amazingly enough, resembled his every aspect. He gave it to me as a gift and as a constant reminder of my passion about this profession… I almost fainted. Daddy laughed. After that day, I would have never seen that wonder man again, but his gestures and his name never abandoned my memories.

The jester's name was… Jackle.

I kept the doll he gave me as long as I could, until it eventually broke. Then, father brought me another doll, Reala, which I immediately liked…

Until now, that is.

I was sitting beneath a tree (one of the never lasting millions around), pondering about the latest course of events. I didn't know why all those memories came back to me in a moment like this… in this moment of utter guiltiness. Yes, you got it right, oh meddling spectators, I was feeling bad for the way I treated that kid. I mean, he was a liar and all, but he was also so kind and… and, well… he didn't deserve to be treated like that! Jesters were made to make people happy, even if that meant being mischievous and prank pullers, and what did I do? I made him sad… I had to do something about that, but what? Oh wait, I could… no, no that's not a good idea. Well, maybe… errrrr, naaaah. What if I… urgh, that's disgusting. I was tragically out of ideas, which added more insult to injury at my already wounded jester's pride.

"So pitiful." The sudden noise startled me like errrrr… something that startles? Oh man, I couldn't even make some decent analogy. "Over here." The mysterious voice said, earning my full attention.

As I redirected my head towards its source, a febrile chilling sensation crossed my spine, leaving me almost breathless. There it was, standing a few inches from me, with a diabolical half moon-like smile filled with sharp, ominous teeth, the unmistakable bearer of my current anxieties. The Reala doll stared at me; evil glint of light depicted in his eyes. I was frozen in pure terror, to say the very least, while the catalyser of all my hidden fears was watching right through me, as if it was judging my own soul… that sounded rather lame, isn't it?

"What do you want from me, Reala!? Why won't you just leave me alone!?" I found the emphatic force to say, which only made him laugh in return… when I said I wanted to make people happy, I didn't exactly mean that.

"You still don't get it?" It began with its ugly stuffed mouth. "Tsk, tsk… poor little, innocent girl trapped in the disfiguring façade of her own childish dreams… TIME TO WAKE UP, NIGHTS!" It yelled with immense hatred and maliciousness. "TIME TO FACE REALITY!" Everything started to vanish… the trees, the flowers, the woods… everything. "Time to face me… oh little jester." And then, before I could notice, I began falling into nothingness.

* * *

**Act 4.**

_**Fffgdfjdfdgrrrrzzzzzzbcdcjddpppppdldledleòqwqdwdeecwaswsswwsffffsszzzz…**_

That was all my mind could think of as I found myself floating in the typical, eternal black blankness of Nowhere. A place so alienating that the simple act of thinking became a challenge per se… a place ruled by voidness; a voidness born from doubt and uncertainty, from hidden fears and misguided emotions, from… whatever it's written on this darn screenplay! "Preposterous remembrances"? Seriously, who wrote this thing? But anyway, no forth wall breaking complain could possibly spare me from what was about to come, next.

A pair of hellish eyes the dimension of a planet appeared right in front of me, fixing their hair-raising glare towards my petrified form in mid space. They locked their staring view over me, as if trying to steal my own memories, as if trying to feed upon my most secured feelings, as if greedily wanting to suck my own soul… my mind was like an open book for those pair of un-blinking eyes.

Suddenly, a non specified number of sharp objects appeared right under those mean body parts, a peculiar and ominous cluster of stalactites that resembled the form of a half moon…

A half moon grin.

Reala's immense razor toothed mouth opened its vault as if ready to devour me, while his eyes continued to stare at me; there was probably some kind of metaphorical concept behind that act, but I was either too scared or ignorant to get it. Before I could end up sucked in that giant vacuum of a nightmarish, bottomless pit-mouth, I felt myself suddenly pulled away from it, or better, dragged.

When my senses came back to me, I could finally look my saviour in the eyes.

Shocked filled my glare as soon as I recognized that unmistakable form, with its unmistakable orangish outfit and that cape and that cloak… after all this time, after all these bad dreams, I was once again reunited with my mentor, my role model, my one and only hero: Jackle the Magician! Or, at least, my mental image of him.

"Do you recognize this place, NiGHTS?" The jester of my dreams asked before giving me the chance to thank him. Suddenly shy, I answered by simply shaking my head. "This is where we used to dance." He calmly said, in a rather smooth tone. At that, I gave a good look at my surroundings.

I was back in one of my earlier mental projections: a large, festively decorated, ballroom; the kind you can see in any good old fashioned fables' castles. That ancient myth mommy used to tell me about, "Beauty and the Beast", inspired me for this image. When I was little I often dreamt of dancing in this ballroom along side Jackle, like a princess with his prince… in a jester-like parody, of course. Those dreams began to fade away the day I lost my Jackle doll and Reala came along, until they eventually vanished.

"Wanna be my happy-go-lucky dancing jester?" Asked Jackle while offering his hand to me… after 3 long nanoseconds of deep thought, I accepted his offer and thus, we happy-go-luckily started dancing the most crazed ballet anyone could ever imagine… (I'll let your hopefully vivid mind figure the scene).

As we danced the night away, the ever so meaningless flowing of Time froze, making that dream OUR unique dream! For the first time since forever, I felt genuinely happy, dare I say, happy-go-lucky! I laughed in joy as my beloved partner made me double para-loop in the air thanks to his skills and his magic. The sad thing about magic, however, is that there's often a fee to pay in exchange of the performance. The true nature of my own fee was just about to be revealed.

"I won't be there to protect you forever… you know that, right?" He said, thus interrupting the joyful moment to my utter disappointment and baffling bafflement… (again, thanks Dimentio). "I've been there for you most of your life… but now it's up to you, NiGHTS." Dumbfound-ness was painted on my concerned expression. "If you really wish to grow up and be the jester you've always dreamt to be, you need to face your fears… you need to face Reala." At that, I was just about to freak out.

"B-but, I don't want…" I childishly and timidly replied while clutching my hands over my chest in shivering fear. "… I can't… he scares me…why won't you stay with me forever?" My trembling voice was about to fade away, along with my dignity. The faceless form of my hero jester gently put his creepy wrist-less gloved hand on my shoulder, thus providing the oh so feared answer that I, deep down, already knew.

Jackle, my Jackle, was a fake. He was as fake as any imaginary friend would be (or should I say, real?), he wasn't even a living being… he was just an outfit, an empty, orangish jester-like outfit, the figurative incarnation of my biggest aspirations and, in truth, the only thing I could remember of his real life counterpart. That realization struck my heart with unbearable heaviness; I was all alone against my darkest feelings.

"I'm all alone then…" I said out loud as my childhood friend began to vanish from my sight. "… at least, we could dance one last time." By the end of my farewell greet, he was already gone. Gone forever. Tears purred down from my cheeks as I sat on the now cold, lifeless ground, hugging my knees in sign of discomfort. The same line repeated itself in my head, over and over again: "I'm all alone. I'm all alone. I'm all alone. I'm all alone…"

"YOU ARE NOT ALONE!"

I turned and there he was. He came for me. He came to help me despite all the mean things I told him. His eyes were the picture of Encouragement, with enough determination to fill the stomach of a junk food addicted… and my own courage meter too! I dried my eyes and rose from the soil. A whole new look of genuine motivation crossed my features now that I knew I was not alone in this battle, that I had his psychological and, possibly, physical support, that I was finally ready to face Reala and all of his nightmares!

Klonoa smiled at me and offered his hand. I took it and, together, we left the fictional security of my fabled ballroom… and my innocence.

* * *

**Final Act:**

Reala was in his Seedrian form (the one I gave him in my dreams); evil grin plastered on his round face, eviller eyes covered in black mascara. I was keeping Klonoa's hand in order to boost my self-confidence.

"So…" Began the red jester. "… are you finally ready?" My grip on the Dream Traveller's hand tightened a little bit as I convincingly nodded to the question. "Very well then… let's get started!" And with that said, Reala's body turned itself into a pure cluster of light, engulfing both me and Klonoa.

And so, everything was revealed.

* * *

_**She looked so happy and carefree, so pure and angelic… she was an angel… she was his little angel. She was playing with her prized newest jester doll, Reala, daydreaming about being with her beloved prince in a wonderful land… and they would both be flying jesters, bringing happiness and laughter wherever they would go, without any caring in the world. This was Tails' daughter, NiGHTS; this was his perfect little girl… right before seeing her father covered with something red and sticky, in his underground workshop… with all of those giant human looking dolls, around him. There were hundreds of them, all with funny faces, all covered with that red paint, just like daddy dearest. She sweetly smiled at her father. She now understood why both her mother and herself were not allowed to enter in his workshop… it was because he was collecting all those beautiful dolls for her… and repairing them too! Her innocent and bright eyes met with her father's strangely widened and terrified ones; she could only guess it was because she disobeyed him, spoiling the big surprise. With her ever so sweet voice, she expressed her sincere gratitude to her beloved parent.**_

**"_Oh thank you for the dolls. You are the best daddy ever!"_**

* * *

As the memory faded away in the darkness where it belonged, I fell on my knees; the burden of knowledge has finally caught up with me… my Reality has been uncovered once and for all.

My childhood was officially over.

"I'm sorry, NiGHTS." Said Klonoa with sincere sympathy; his hand was on my shoulder.

"I've always known…"

"What?"

"I've always known about my father's actions since the day I discovered all those bodies in his workshop… yet I pretended to ignore it. I forced myself into believing those were nothing but dolls! But I couldn't fool my mother with that act…" I slowly turned to fix my blue, tearful eyes over his golden, caring ones. "… and I couldn't fool you." And then, I openly cried my eyes out on his shoulder. "I don't care if he's a monster, I don't care if he has forgotten us and I don't care what my mother thinks… I miss my daddy!" I kept waterfalling as Klonoa's arms delicately wrapped themselves around my body. "I want my daddy!" And just like before, Time froze, leaving the two of us locked in that moment of beautiful, relieving sadness for Chaos knew how long.

* * *

**Epilogue.**

I woke up from my afternoon slumber, later on; I felt rather refreshed, to say the least. The still sleeping form of Klonoa (my newest hero and probable love interest) was right beside me; the now more appreciable natural atmosphere around us made him look so cute and innocent… so unaware… so defenseless.

A mischievous grin crossed my face as "Prank's Plan n.59" began forming into my hyperactive mind. I just happened to have a stink bomb with his name written on it.

On a side note, Reala's doll was nowhere to be seen…

**The End**

* * *

**A good cast is worth repeating:**

**NiGHTS as _The Jester_**

**Klonoa as _The Dream__ Traveller_**

**Reala as _Reala Doll_**

**Someone who's definitely not Dimentio as _Jackle_**

**Miles "Tails" Prower as _The Monster_**

**Thanks for watching. Goodnight everybody.**

* * *

"..."

"Well?"

"Is that what you call a 'Bonus Story', Dimentio?"

"No, my friend; that's what I call… Pure Genius!"

"Whatever… but why NiGHTS?"

"Because she's learning the job… one day, she'll be a great storyteller and even a greater jester!"

"…"

"What?"

"I guess everyone guessed that you and Jackle were the same person, all along."

"Eeh eeh eeh, what can I say? Us jesters need to be prolific… now let's get back to the actual plot, Meta-Knight!"

"… how I hate that name."

"Did you prefer 'Midget Vader', perhaps?"

"Aaaah, forget it!"

XD


End file.
